Wish I Was Your Lover
by Falaphesian
Summary: [now complete!] Riku is an irresponsible, bratty older brother who can’t be bothered with his younger sister or their latest ‘babysitter’ who really just wants out of the entire thing. ...But for how long? RikuSora fun.
1. Meet My Demon

Welcome to my little side project, also known as my Valentine's Day fic.  *bows*  This is one of the plot lines I came up with, and (using OftB reviewers' inputs) set up the Riku/Sora pairing they all selected!  I was first intending to have the Valentine's fic be much shorter, only one chapter, but I liked this particular plot line so much, I just had to drag it out.  So instead, it will be _completed on Valentine's Day.  One for the Band will continue sporadic updates until then, so don't worry!  Instead, watch me try to assemble an R rated storyline... Meep._

Disclaimer/Warning...Stuff: Kingdom Hearts and all related characters = not mine.  As fun as **that** would be.  No, I just like to poke fun at the poor attempts Square did of trying to cover up the truuue relationship behind the game.  Which is definitely Riku/Sora.  Which also brings me to my next topic!  Riku/Sora means yaoi, which means that some people may not approve.  If you don't approve, well, I'm sorry about that, but oh well.  My fic can continue anyway.  XD The fic is rated R due to language and later sexual situations.  Ahem.

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**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter One**

'Meet my Demon' 

            The second week of Riku's life on Destiny Islands was much like the first.  The third was much like the second, which was in turn much like the fourth, which was also in turn, much like the fifth, the sixth... and so on.  To say the teenager hated life there would have to be the understatement of the century, and he didn't waste any time before he made it just quite obvious how **much** he hated it there.  Having moved to the islands a month and a half before the schools there let out, there was no point in having Riku attend a school at all, having finished all his courses for the year back at the public schools on the mainland.  This left him with no one to hang out with and no one who he knew.  So, playing to morose teen, Riku did what many his age would have done in that situation.

            He locked himself up in his new room, turned up the music, and refused to come out.

            So it was that during the _fifth_ week of Riku's new life, his parents were called off to the mainland for a weekend to finish tying up some loose ends on their old house.  Riku sighed, just thinking about it.  His _old_ house.  His _real_ house.  Where he had a city surrounding him, concrete everywhere, and a restaurant lining every block.  Here, he'd have to learn how to cook his own food, and even how to drive, since the islands lacked numerous diners as well as a public transportation system.  How completely and totally... _prehistoric.  _That was really the only word for this whole place.  And now his good ole parents just had to go back to the mainland and were forcing Riku to stay behind and take care of his good for nothing little sister.  Well that was just swell.

            Three days later, Riku sat at the kitchen table with a rather perplexed mother...  

"I can't _believe _you could be so immature, Riku!"

            The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow in response, though he inwardly cringed at the tone his mother was using.  She never seemed to get this easily upset back at home.  Where he _should_ have been instead of that god-forsaken island.  It hadn't even been his fault in the first place!  Narrowing his green eyes at his younger sister, Riku made a mental note to hurt her later.  Or maybe just decapitate a favorite stuffed animal. Either way, something would have to be done. 

            Ryo sniffed pathetically, drawing her small mouth out into a typical younger-sister pout.  Riku smirked, knowing that same mouth would be screaming at the severed teddy bear head in her bead later that night.  Ah, revenge was sweet.  Riku was so busy plotting this revenge, he wasn't even listening to his mother's lecture.

            "You never even come out of your room anymore, let alone take responsibility for a simple babysitting job!  How can your father and I ever trust you again?!  All you had to do was sacrifice just a _little_ of your time and check on Ryo once in a while, but could you?  _Could_ you??!  NO!  I swear, Riku, it's almost like _you're the one in need of a babysitter!--"_

            Hmm... Perhaps cutting off the bear's head would be being too gentle.  Maybe if he sliced open the stuffed animal's stomach and littered Ryo's room with its stuffing...

            "--the washing machine!   The _washing machine, Riku!  Do you understand what could've happened??  DO YOU?!  I didn't _think_ so!  You never understand that there are consequences for your--"_

            Or maybe he could just put the entire thing through the disposal in the sink.  A rather grimy end for such a stupid grimy toy.  It would be fitting, after all.

            "Riku, are you even _listening _to a _word I'm saying to you?!"_

            No, Riku definitely thought that plan A was the way to go.  Nothing like making Ryo scream in terror to get back at her.  What sort of idiot kid gets herself locked in the washing machine anyway?  Come to think of it, what sort of idiot kid gets herself _in_ a washing machine in the first place?  Drawing a blank, Riku decided to sort through his thoughts later.  The likelihood of the situation was simply that Ryo had decided to make her older brother's life even more of a hell then it already was, which meant victimizing herself and appealing to their parents and royally screwing him over in the process.  Hardly a challenge for the seven year old girl.

            "That's it, Riku!  I've had it!  Your father and I have very important business to take care of and, yes, we _will _be gone quite often!  If you can't be bothered to take care of both yourself and Ryo, then I just need to find a babysitter for the both of you!"

            That snapped Riku out of his revenge-daze, causing him to look at his mother, his head cocked to the side in puzzlement.  "Why would you need to do that?"

            His mother stood there, gaping at Riku as though he were speaking a foreign tongue.  Finally she groaned, flinging her hands up in despair before storming out of the kitchen, hollering over her shoulder.  "Tomorrow!  Tomorrow I find a babysitter and your father and I can live in **peace!"**

~~~~~~~

            Sora sighed, closing the door of his car behind him... Or, more specifically, his parents' car.  The fact that they'd never officially declared the old rattletrap _his_ didn't bother him quite as much as the fact that he'd experienced yet another summer day out doing nothing.  It wasn't as though Sora hated doing nothing (actually, it was probably one of his favorite activities), but he hated doing nothing at a _mall.  With girls, which just happened to be the only close friends he'd been able to get in contact with.  Quite possibly the worst decision the blue eyed teen had ever made in his life, really, but with Tidus and Wakka off at some blitzball conditioning camp... _thing_, that just left Sora with Kairi and Selphie.  Oh yes, and Kairi's boyfriend.  Letting out another deep sigh, seeming to give one for each of his troubles, Sora shoved the car keys in his pocket as he trudged up his front yard to his home, hoping his parents weren't home yet.  Problems tended to layer themselves one on top of the other, much like a cake or a parfait.  Even thinking about the delicious foods wasn't enough to get Sora's mind off the inevitable._

            Kairi had gotten a boyfriend.

            Sora knew he didn't like his best friend that way.  They'd gone out for about two weeks in middle school, but there was absolutely no spark between them, and they'd decided to go back to being friends.  Since then, neither had really chosen to date, though it also seemed that neither of them knew _why.  Sora didn't particularly have a problem with it, finding that not many girls at his school were all that interesting in a more-then-friendly way, telling himself that there were probably better girls in college.  At least, that's what he'd told himself for a long, long time.  But... what if there weren't?  What if Sora was doomed to live life not knowing what it would be like to have a __real girlfriend?  _

            Pushing the thought aside as he opened the front door, Sora found himself already face to face with his mother.  She grinned, opening the door for him with her foot and finishing the ponytail she'd been in the process of pulling her hair into.

            "Hey, Honey!  Umm, listen, I have something _really important I need to discuss with you."_

            Uh oh, Bryna was using pet names for her son.  This could get ugly.

            "Uh, sure, Mom..." Sora mumbled as he was dragged off to the living room, sitting down numbly on the sofa.  

            "Sweetie, ah, your father and I won these tickets..."

          Sora forced a grin onto his face, instantly knowing the exact tickets his mother was talking about.  How could he not?  After all, Bryna had only been babbling about some contest or another she'd won for the past two weeks, the prize being two airline tickets far up the coast of the mainland way into the north, where Sora had heard there was snow and... well, that's about where his knowledge ended.  "Wow, great job, Mom!  When do we go?"

            Bryna's smile faltered, wringing her hands in circles as she spoke.  "Well, that's just it... I, ah, didn't realize that..."  She trailed off, suddenly seeming very interested in the floorboards of the ground beneath her.

            "...Realize thaaat?"

            "Well, ah... that... There's only... two... tickets..." Bryna finished lamely.

            Sora gaped at her in response.  No way.  There was **no way his own parents would abandon him now, too!  Great, just great.**

            "I'm sorry, Baby!  I really thought there were _four tickets, but I guess I entered the wrong contest and got a romantic vacation instead of a family one and now I should probably go revoke my tickets because I know you don't want to be left here all alone and it's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself, but think of everything that could go wrong if you're left in this house along and I'm **so **sorry, Sora, I never ever meant to leave you out, but at the same time your father says we should go and so I just want to--"_

            "Woah, Mom, breathe."  Sora was determined to be as mature about this as possible... Well, as mature as Sora could be in any situation.  "It's okay.  I can take care of myself while you guys are gone, I really don't mind!"

            "But... but... Well, that's the problem."

            "What is?  I can take care of myself, we've already got that figured."

            "Well, your father and I think that maybe an entire month is... Well, _pushing it a bit, don't you think?  It's just, what if something happened?  We know you can handle things, but... An entire month __alone?"  Bryna gnawed her bottom lip nervously, waiting in the silence before glancing down at her son who was still seated on the couch.  She gave him a small smile, turning towards the coffee table and picking up a piece of paper Sora hadn't noticed when he'd first walked into the room.  Actually, it looked more like a _flyer_.  Bryna held the paper in her delicate hands, continuing with her train of thought._

            "I saw this when I was shopping today and it seems like a good idea.  I mean, if you're not alone, I don't think there's a problem, right?  And you've babysat before, so it's not like this would be any different..."

            "Mom, just let me see the flyer."  Sora's mother had completely lost him.  Reaching up, Sora took the paper his mother handed him, scanning over the text.  

_Babysitter Needed for June 12-July 12_

_~Please respond ASAP if you think you may be interested!~_

_~Food and room will all be provided as well as $50 dollars a day as pay~_

_Call 204-395-8375 or stop by __2048 Yinsaed Dr.__ to speak to us one on one!_

            Sora blinked up at Bryna.  "Mom, if I apparently can't take care of myself for a month, what makes you think I can take care of some little kid too?"  The entire thing was just more then a little aggravating.

            "No, no, see, if you weren't alone I wouldn't be so worried.  And I sort of already... called."

            "_Mom!"_

            "Sora, I know, I'm sorry, it's just... Your father and I have three days to get everything packed and it's short notice... I know..."  The room fell into silence, Sora's anger quite obvious on his face.  Bryna guessed that whatever bad day the boy had stormed inside with wasn't exactly being helped by all this being put on top of him right then...  But what else could she do?

            "I called and told her you'd drop by tomorrow afternoon to meet the kids."

            "There's _two?"_

            "Well, one's a boy a year older then you..."

            Sora furrowed his eyebrows together in puzzlement.  "Then why do they need a..." 

            "Apparently he's somewhat... moody... from what I heard.  And he doesn't like to leave his room... So it'd really just be like there was only one kid there anyway!" Bryna said, grinning and trying to get her son to look on the bright side of things.  Too bad Sora couldn't even _find_ a bright side to the whole thing.

            "Great, so I'm going to be babysitting some crazy little kid who's older brother is an angsty, male PMS-driven, irresponsible idiot?"

            "Sora!  You haven't even met him yet!"

            "...Your point?"

            "Sora, your father and I really want to go on this trip..."  Sora's eyes widened, sensing what was coming next and not being able to do anything to stop it, much like a deer caught in headlights.  Bryna was going to start putting Sora through a major guilt trip, knowing her son would undoubtedly cave in to his conscience, just as he did every single time.

            "It's just that we've never really had a romantic vacation since our honeymoon...  And that was a long time ago, Sweetie.  But it's okay if you don't want to do this, I won't push you.  It's just that you _were saying earlier how you hated having to hang out with Kairi and her boyfriend so much and I figured that maybe this older boy only needs someone to depend on and you could befriend him with ease.  You do make friends so easily, Sora.  ...But if you don't want to, I'll just have to call back and apologize to their parents, it's okay..."_

            Sora groaned, leaning back into the pillows of the couch and looking up at the ceiling so Bryna wouldn't be able to see the pouty expression he now wore.  "No, Mom, that's okay... I'll do it..."

            "Oh, goodie!"  The next thing Sora knew, he was being tackled in an enormous hug by Bryna, his mother kissing his cheek happily, almost motherly, despite her normal... un-motherly attitude.  "Your father and I will find a way to pay you back, Sora, don't worry!  We'll make it up to you!  And _fifty dollars a day?  That's good money!  You can probably buy your __own care by the time a month's up!"_

            That thought definitely put Sora in a better mood.  His own car?  One that he wouldn't have to kick to get it started properly?  One that actually had working windshield wipers?  Well hot damn.  Perhaps this whole baby-sitting thing wouldn't be as bad as he thought...

~~~~~~~

            It's amazing how fast three days fly by.

"Hiya, Sora!" Ryo beamed as she opened the front door, peering up at Sora.  Sora, in turn, peered down at the tiny girl and gave her a small wave, unable to keep from smiling at Ryo's broad grin stretched across her pale face.  She was pretty adorable, he'd give her that.  Kairi and Selphie would probably squeal and go on and on about how cute she was and how pretty she'd be when she grew up.  With pale blonde hair pulled up into pigtails and dark green eyes, Sora figured that Ryo would be the star of her high school prom.  Just like Kairi.  Great, Sora would be babysitting a mini Kairi for the next month.

            He'd stopped by the house two days earlier, having responded to the invitation to just go have a look around the house and meet Ryo... Though Sora hadn't seen any trace of another sibling.  When he'd timidly asked about what his mother had said, Ryo's mother had just brushed the question off with a dismissive wave of her hand, saying that Ryo's older brother would probably lock himself up in his room all day anyway, so there would be no point in trying to look after him as well.  Even then, she had then joked about the older boy probably needing a baby sitter for himself, he could be so immature sometimes.  Ryo had whispered, "He doesn't like my stuffed aminals very much" in Sora's ear, pulling out a battered teddy bear head and showing it to him, causing the brunette to gulp and try and get his mind off of her older brother, whom he was then hoping he _wouldn't meet._

            Their house was just plain huge compared to Sora's own, and he cautiously stepped into the hallway, setting his duffel bag down on the floor with a quiet thump.  Well, there was no going back now.  Everyone's parents had taken off earlier that evening, Ryo's parents explaining that they had a business merging deal they had to set up... or something.  Sora hadn't even understood half the words they'd said when speaking to him, but he didn't think he'd really care even if he _did_ understand.  The business world was a complete mystery to him, and Sora was perfectly happy with things being that way.  Just as he thought he'd be perfectly happy avoiding Ryo's stuffed-animal-cereal-killer of a brother.

            Ryo happily led Sora down into the basement, where Sora had earlier been shown the large guest room the family had down there, as well as where there was a second small kitchen and bathroom.  Sora had been amazed, to say the least, at the sheer expanse of the house, as well as the expensive paintings hanging from the walls and the marble tiled counters and plush sofas.  Not to mention the fact that he was horribly jealous of the big screen TV the family had sitting in their living room.  

            "You get to live down here!  You're so lucky.  Mommy says I'm not supposed to bother you if you tell me to leave you alone, so just tell me to leave you alone, and I'll leave you alone, okay?"  Ryo grinned, perched on the arm of an overstuffed couch situated on the thick, warm carpet of the basement.  Though he didn't really understand some of what she was babbling, due to her mile-a-minute speech, Sora smiled at the younger girl, setting his bag on the floor.  

            "Sure thing, Ryo..."  She really wasn't that bad of a kid.  Sora couldn't see why her older brother just wasn't willing to look out for her every once in a while.

            "Ooooh, can we turn on the radio?  I'll help you unpack your stuff!  Then we can go see if Riku wants to play a board game, okay?"  Ryo literally bounced off the arm of the sofa, latching onto Sora's arm instead and attempting to grab his duffel bag with her spare hand, only to flop over onto the ground.  She tugged pitifully at the strap of the bag, barely moving it half an inch from its original position on the floor.  Sora laughed, bending down at picking up the bag, slinging it over his shoulder again.  

            "Jeeze, whaddya have in there, rocks?"  Ryo grabbed Sora's arm, leading him towards the open door of the basement's bedroom and hopping over to the radio as soon as they entered the room, obviously not as intent on hearing Sora's response as much as hearing what the radio had to offer.  Sora meanwhile, zipped open his duffel bag, pulling out heaps of clothing and setting them out on the large queen size bed, hearing only a fuzzy crackling noise coming over from the stereo.  

            "Need a hand?"  Sora cocked his head at the little girl who was scowling furiously at the speakers in front of her.

            _Whack!_

            Sora's eyes widened as music burst into the room, surprised that Ryo's swift kick had actually managed to get the device working.

            "Eee!  I love this song!"  The hyperactive girl bounced up and down with excitement, leaping onto the bed, nearly flipping head over heels into Sora's duffel bag, but catching herself in time by grabbing onto the boy's shirt, sending both of them hurtling to the floor with a thud. 

_That old dog has chained you up alright.  
Give you everything you need _

_To live inside a twisted cage,  
Sleep beside an empty rage  
I had a dream I was your hero  
**Damn!** I wish I was your lover!  
I'll rock you till the daylight comes,  
Make sure you are smiling and warm  
I am everything,  
Tonight I'll be your mother_

_I will do such things to ease your pain,  
Free your mind and you won't feel ashamed_

            The collision with the floor didn't stop Ryo from playing her air guitar with glee, lip-syncing the words to the song as Sora doubled over in laughter.  He'd definitely had his doubts about the entire thing, but Ryo was plenty outgoing and fun, making her the perfect kid to be stuck babysitting for a month.  Granted, Sora would have felt better if there _wasn't some strange and unknown teenager lurking upstairs, but--_

            Sora was snapped out of his thoughts by a small tug on his arm, steering him towards the door.

            "Hey!  Let's go see Riku!"

            Uh oh.

            "Uhh, Ryo?  Don't you think maybe we should leave him alone?  I mean, he sounds kinda... antisocial?"

            "Naaah!  Riku's a _cool_ brother!  You'll love 'im!"

            Oh dear.  Sora allowed himself to be dragged up two flights of stairs by Ryo, who was surprisingly strong for her tiny size.  The spiral staircase which led up to the second story of the house was so finely polished, Sora could see his own puzzled expression blinking back at him as he tagged along behind Ryo on their random trip up to her brother's room.  _Another living room greeted them at the top of the stairs, black leather furniture artfully place around a large and intricately decorated rug, all of it set atop polished hardwood floors.  Sora couldn't spend too much time drooling over the gorgeous house, though, since Ryo left him absolutely no time to do so, grabbing his hand and leading him off down one of several hallways branching off from the living room._

            It was easy to identify which room was Riku's though only because of the music leaking through the doorway.  Unlike Sora's own bedroom door, which was plastered with posters, notes, pictures, and everything imaginable, Riku's door was entirely blank, white paint glaring off its surface, only amplifying its emptiness.  Sora actually found himself feeling sorry for the poor door, but then shook his sympathy from his mind.  He just had to focus on not getting off on the wrong foot with Riku... Who might decide to decapitate his own head much like that of the teddy bear Ryo had shown him.

            "Riiiiiiku!  RikuRikuRikuRikuRikuRi--"

            "_WHAT."  Sora noted that Riku's irritated response was not a question.  It sounded more along the lines of a demand.  Meep._

            "This is So-ra, our babysitter!  Dontcha wanna meet Sora, Riku?"  Ryo looked pleadingly at the door, as though she were actually talking to her brother face to face.  Then again, if Riku stayed in his room as much as his mother implied, perhaps Ryo had just come to know the door's surface _as_ her brother.  Which was really quite sad.

            "No.  Not really, no."  Ouch.

            "Aww!  But why not?"

            "_Why would I want to meet some stupid girl?"_

            Ryo giggled as Sora couldn't help from bursting out, "Hey, I'm not a girl!"  Well, so much for getting off on the right foot with Riku.

            From behind the closed door, Riku's eyes widened.  His little sister's babysitter was a _boy_??  What were his parents _thinking?!  They didn't even know this kid, and yet they trusted him with Ryo for an entire month?  Though Riku would never admit it, the fact stung pretty badly that his parents trusted this total stranger more then their own son and he bit his bottom lip and scowled at the doorway before continuing._

            "Then that's even _more_ of a reason I _don't want to meet him."_

            "But Riku, you like b--"

            "**Go away, Ryo."**

            Ryo's eyes began to tear up and Sora instantly felt a deep stab of sympathy for her.  It was typical little-sister behavior to idolize her older brother.  But had Sora just heard Ryo say that Riku liked boys?  Sora pondered this for several seconds before choosing to shrug it off.  Chances were that she just meant that Riku's _friends_ were boys, which would only imply that Riku liked spending time around boys.  Nothing out of the ordinary there.  Instead, he needed to focus on keeping Ryo from bursting into tears, since he thought his heart might just snap if she did.  She really _was too much like a mini-Kairi._

            "Ah, don't worry about him, Ryo!  Hey, your mom said we could make some cookies, remember?  Why don't we go listen to the radio some more and bake some?"

            It worked like a charm.  Almost instantaneously, all traces of tears were wiped from Ryo's small face, the little girl giving Sora a wide grin and nodding eagerly.  "Yay!  Cookies!  We can make some and bring 'em up to Riku!  He loves cookies!  Maybe then he'll come out of his room!"  She reached out a small hand to grab Sora, no doubt to lead him back down to the basement's kitchen where the radio was still on in the neighboring bedroom, but she merely ended up grasping empty air.

            "Aiee!"  With a yelp, Sora found himself jerked through Riku's bedroom door, which had snapped open and shut in the blink on an eye, Riku roughly grasping Sora's shoulders.  "Hey, lemme go!" Sora protested, trying not to let his rising panic show through his voice.  ...Trying, but not really succeeding.  

            Riku shoved the smaller boy up against the back of the door, glaring icily at him.  This _Sora_ really was just _weak_.  He couldn't even put up a decent struggle against-- Riku's viscous mind screeched to a halt as he locked eyes with the younger boy, time careening to a stop as well.  _Wow_.  Riku had _never_ seen eyes like _that_ before.  Half of him suddenly wanted to break all previous negative emotions he held towards Sora, but he struggled to keep that half on him in check.  Instead, he snapped at Sora, though with nowhere near the amount of venom in his voice as he had originally intended to have.

            "Listen, you little punk.  I don't know **who you are, or what on ****earth compelled you to look after a little girl for a month, but if you're some perverted little bastard and if you even think of touching Ryo, I swear I'll kill you."  And Riku meant it, too.  He was already jealous to the point of no return, but now he was no longer sure just who it was he was jealous _of.  Sora was spending all this time with Riku's little sister after all, when it was he who was her brother.  But... Ryo got to spend time with _that_ boy.  Lucky, lucky Ryo._**

            Sora's brilliant blue eyes narrowed in response to Riku's verbal onslaught, though he was debated whether or not he wanted to stare at the boy pinning him against a closed door, or if he wanted to yell at him.  He certainly hadn't been expecting Ryo's vicious older brother to be so damn gorgeous, though he probably should have.  Hell, their entire family was model-worthy, why not their bastard of a son as well?  

            "Well sorry for raining on your already dismal parade, _Riku_, but I'm taking care of your kid sister because apparently you _can't."  Sora instantly regretted the words as soon as they'd left his mouth, part of him wondering if all Riku needed was some time to adjust to his new home.  Maybe then he wouldn't be so... mean._

            Riku's eyes narrowed as he shoved himself away from Sora, disturbed that he found himself wanted to go back to that situation.  He must really _have_ been locked up in his room for way too long if he was already lusting after some total stranger.  Who was _younger _then him, on top of that.  He crossed his arms and hissed back, "I was just giving you fair warning, _Sora.  And don't think I'm going to be crawling to you asking for your permission to do anything.  This is my house and I'll do what I want, with or without your fucking consent."_

            Sora finally drew the line and figured that this had gone on long enough.  There was no reason at all for them to hate each other already!  If someone was going to put a stop to it, it looked like it would just have to be him.  So Sora just nodded and turned to open the doorway, which Ryo had all the while been pounding on, demanding that Riku unhand her babysitter that very instant.  

            "Alright.  I'm not exactly gonna demand you tell me where you're going or anything.  That'd just be stupid."  Sora pulled the door open, looking back over his shoulder at Riku, who looked incredibly taken aback.  "Ryo and I'll be in the basement making cookies...  If you wanna come downstairs later, I bet she'd be glad to see you."  Sora inwardly wanted to continue with, "And I sure as hell would like to get to know you better, if you catch my drift," but was absolutely shocked with himself for thinking that in the first place.  Yes, Riku was gorgeous, but the guy had just had Sora shoved up against the wall and had threatened to kill him if he molested his little sister.  But Sora was already determined to put that awkward meeting behind them, not wanted the next month to be a living hell for both boys.  With that, Sora closed Riku's bedroom door and made his way back downstairs to the basement, Ryo dragging him along.

            "Riku's really not that bad all the time, Sora!  I bet he just needs some cookies!"

            It's amazing how unconditional some types of love are.

            Riku stood gaping at his closed door several moments after Sora and Ryo had already left.  Well **that was interesting.  Riku could still feel the blood rushing through his body as fast as it had been going when Sora had just looked at him over his shoulder.  God, those eyes...  **

            His attention slowly began to fade back to reality as his radio began to draw the song it was playing to a close.

            **_Damn!__  I wish I was your lover!_**

            How very, very true.

.............................................................

            Whew!  Riku's kinda disturbing!  XD  But in a **fun** way.  The song, which is also the fic's namesake, is 'I Wish I Was Your Lover,' by Sophie B. Hoffman, which I only came to know because she sang it in a duet with Melissa Etheridge.  Ahem.  Right then, music-geek time: over.  Reviews are especially appreciated this early in the fic so you guys can tell me if you think I'm headed the right direction!  I'd also like to point out that Ryo, sadly, is a randomly created character.  I was considering using Selphie as Riku's little sister, but that would just be weird.  o_O  So all you need know is that Ryo if purely a plot device and will help Riku and Sora get together countless times throughout the fic.  She's a slasher at heart, even at the tender age of seven!  XD  Enough babbling from me, time for.....

            Preview for the next chapter:  Cookies, cocoa, and Ryo's solution to a scary thunderstorm.  It's group hug time in one big bed (yes, with **Riku), with a power outage to add a little zing to the soup o' plot!  Mmm, spicy!**

~Ori


	2. Break Some Barriers

            *is goo*  Wow, such kind comments.  And over twenty reviews for one chapter?!  Again, wow.  ;___;  Thanks to all of you who reviewed!  ^^  Ying-Yue, sorry about the 'cereal-killer' thing.  Yes, Riku is a mass breakfast food criminal.  Ehehehe.  Whoops.  Hopefully this chapter won't have such errors.  But I agree with you on the beta-reader thing.  *clears throat*  If anyone reading this thinks they'd like to be a helpful beta-reader, send me an email!  That would be a most handy thing to have... Now then, take a seat and witness Sora's cuteness dismantling the antisocial Riku, block by little block.  Mwahaha.  XD  Onto the next chapter!

            Disclaimer is in the first chapter of this fic.  Let's just say it carries out through the rest of it.

....................................

**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter Two**

'Break Some Barriers'

            Ryo and Sora blinked numbly down at the cookie sheets in front of them.  

"I wonder what we did wrong."  Ryo poked one of the cooled lumps of... _something sitting on the cookie sheet.  They weren't burnt, so to speak, just more along the lines of "adorably charred."  Sora made a mental note not to make cookies again in the near future, though the foul appearance of the baked goods didn't stop Ryo from prying one off the pan and popping it in her mouth, much to Sora's dismay._

"Ryo!  D-don't eat **that!"  He didn't know what he'd do if the girl dropped dead right on the spot, or what he'd tell her parents.  'Yes, I'm so sorry your daughter died from a carbon overdose... I just can't make cookies!'  It would go over _so well._**

But Ryo was grinning, mumbling something around the mouthful of cookie she was quite contentedly chewing away.  She held up one small finger, finishing chewing before continuing, hopping around with excitement.  "They're _goooood_!"

"...I don't believe you."

"What?  Hey, why not?"

The two exchanged glances towards the pans of "cookies", Sora figuring that would pretty much be a decent enough explanation for the little girl.  Ryo sighed irritably and blew a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"Well, yeah, they _look bad, but they __taste good!  It's the inside that matters!"_

Sora snickered, reaching for a cookie for himself.  "How insightful of you."

"What?  You don't eat just the **skin of cookies!  Blegh!" **

"...Nevermind."  Popping the cookie into his mouth, Sora chewed warily.  They really weren't all that bad... but they still didn't taste like sugar cookies.  It was more... tangy?  "Ryo, when I asked you to add the vegetable oil, what did you put in here?"

"Umm..."  Ryo rummaged around the refrigerator a moment, pulling out a green bottle.  "This!"  

"Ryo, that's lime juice."

"Well, yeah, but I couldn't find the veggie oil, so I figured that, ya know, _lime_'s a vegetable!  Just like lemons!  But I didn't wanna add lemon juice because lemon juice is yellow and I don't really like yellow as much as I like green.  Green is way cooler then yellow, ya know!  My eyes are green, see?  Riku's eyes or more blue-green, or at least that what my mommy says, but even then I still say his eyes are green because green's the ultimate cool color!  I'm sorry your eyes are blue, Sora."  Ryo continued babbling nonchalantly, finding no difficulty in being overheard by the radio playing loudly in the other room.  The only times it seemed that she ever quieted down were when the songs she liked played, otherwise Ryo was always jumping into random conversation topics.  Well, at least eye color was a better topic then the previous one.  The little girl had already found out that Sora had a lifelong fear of sock puppets from _that_ conversation.

Neither of them noticed, however, that perched at the top of the stairs was a certain someone's certain older brother listening in to a certain conversation.  Part of Riku's mind couldn't help but scold Sora for not hearing the older boy make his way to the top of the basement stairs, seeing as Riku could very well have been a robber or a murderer or who _knows what.  He'd have to yell at the younger boy about that later, Riku realized with a smirk.  Not that he wasn't looking forward to it.  Though his mind had wandered away from the conversation and he came in at "I'm sorry your eyes are blue, Sora."  Riku narrowed his eyes at Ryo's comment.  He __liked Sora's eyes.  What did his stupid little sister know anyway?_

Riku let out a half sigh, deciding against speaking up and interrupting their conversation.  He found it rather disturbing how just one short (and rather bitter) meeting with Sora had started dismantling all the walls he'd struggled to build up since he'd come to the island.  Riku didn't want new friends, he wanted to go home.  He had to keep telling himself this over and over and over again, or he might just... crumble.  And giving in like that would just be **weak.**

Ryo looked up from her cookie as the basement lights flickered.  "Uh oh..."  A flash of light suddenly burst through the tiny window dividing the basement from the outside world following seconds later by a low rumble of thunder.  Sora had known it'd been raining for quite some time, but he hadn't known about the thunder...  Not thunder, anything but thunder and lightning...  The thing that made it even worse was that Ryo just giggled and seemed to have no problem with the weather, her attention drifting straight back to her cookie.

Or so it appeared.

"Sora, are you afraid of lightning?"  Ryo cocked her head to the side, looking up at the older boy.  Gulp.  

"Umm... Yeeees..."  The lights flickered dangerously again, Sora trying his best not to wince.  It wasn't uncommon for strong storm like this to just whip up the coast of the islands, especially in summer.  There was no reason for Sora to _still_ be afraid of the storms, but he'd never really gotten over it.  Just as he was about to fabricate a random excuse as to why storms just bothered him so much, it appeared that the power lines had just taken one to many beatings, the basement and the entire house, falling into blackness with a rumble of thunder.

"YAY!  Power outage!  Whooooo-hooooooo!"  Ryo's voice delightedly shot into the air, Sora afraid to move for fear of stepping on the smaller girl.

Unfortunately for Riku, who had still been slowly continuing his silent progression up the basement stairs, being plunged into darkness like that wasn't much call for excitement.  His foot missed the next step by an inch, causing the boy to overbalance and, after a moment of flailing around frantically on the steps, fall backwards with a vivid swear and tumble down the stairs.  Thank god his parents had them carpeted.  ...Though falling down stairs in general is a rather painful experience.

Sora yelped at the loud noise, suddenly feeling Ryo clinging to his leg.

"Eeeeeeek!  Soraaaaaa!"  Ryo's voice broke as the girl began to cry, instantly thinking the worst of the tremendous thud which had just sounded from across the basement.  Whatever happened to the fun kind of thunderstorm where everyone got to cuddle under blankets and tell stories until the power came back on?  She didn't much care for the new kind of thunderstorm.  The kind where masked murderers sneak up on her and poor Sora in the dark.  

"Ryo, go to the bedroom, okay?"  Sora had knelt down next to the girl, whispering in her ear.  

Meanwhile, Riku, who was sprawled across the basement floor at the foot of the stairs, just groaned.  Paaaaain.   He knew no bones were broken, but not only did he have several bruises dotted across his back and his legs, but his pride was bound to be shattered by all this.  Not to mention the fact that he could _hear_ Sora's whisper from across the room.  Grr.  Leave it to Ryo to get adorable Sora whispering in her ear in less then twelve hours of his first day babysitting.  Sheesh.

Ryo nodded towards Sora, though no one could see the action in the darkness.  Releasing his leg, the girl scampered off in the general direction of the bedroom, surprisingly not running into anything on her way there.  Sora reached up and found the countertop, his hand searching for something he might be able to use as a weapon or something to defend himself with.  What he _really wanted to do was run after Ryo and hide under the bed... But he figured that wouldn't do either of them much good in the long run.  His hand returned to his side, though now holding the handle of a frying pan.  Then again, it wasn't as though Sora __knew how to fight with a frying pan.  It seemed to be a lose-lose situation either way._

But, if Sora was going to die, he might as well put up a decent fight!

Quickly and quietly making his way over towards where Sora _thought_ the foot of the stairs were, frying pan at the ready, Sora tried to figure out exactly what it was he would going to do when he came face to face with a possible killer in the dark.  Odds were, he'd flail around blindly until he hit something and he'd pray that whatever he hit was said killer.

Unfortunately, Sora didn't have much time to consider preparations, since he'd forgotten about the small step the basement floor had which led to the foot of the stairs.  With a yelp, the brunette stumbled, frying pan flying out of his hand and landing somewhere near by with a sharp thud.  Sora tumbled down, thinking his days were numbered and that thanks to his clumsiness, he'd now by sprawled across the feet of a murderer or a robber or...

Riku?  Sora wasn't even sprawled across Riku's _feet.  More like his entire _body_.  The sudden contact had sent the silver haired boy jolting back to reality, very aware of the new weight draped over him. _

Another rumble of thunder, another stifled whimper from Sora.  The last thing he needed was for Riku to know of his fear of lightning!  ...Come to think of it, the last thing he needed was for Riku to know that he made quite a comfortable cushion... which would imply that Sora had to haul himself off the older boy.  And soon.  Riku's eyes widened as Sora struggled and squirmed to get up, the younger boy straddling his waist in the basement's newfound darkness.  Crap!  What was Sora _doing_?!

"Riku?  Riku, are you okay?"  Great.  On top of being afraid of thunder, Sora had nearly killed Riku by _falling on him.  This was really just getting sad.  Sora shifted again, trying to peer down to look at Riku's face, praying it wouldn't be contorted in pain or turned blue from lack of oxygen.  Not once did it dawn on Sora that one, he couldn't even see Riku's face in the dark, and two, continuing to sit on Riku would probably only further deprive him of oxygen.  Oh well.  Sora leaned forward, unaware of the incredibly awkward position he had put both himself and Riku in._

_Friction!  _Riku frantically shoved Sora off of him, possibly a bit rougher then he really meant to, but he could apologize later.  Or not.  Riku didn't really do apologies.  No matter, though.  The most important thing at that moment was just putting distance between he and Sora before... less pleasant things happened.

"Less pleasant?"  Riku hadn't realized he'd spoken aloud until the words were already out of his mouth.  His pale green eyes widened as he forcefully clapped a hand over his mouth, praying it would keep more damn words from just spilling out like that.

"Huh?"  Sora was off of him, thankfully, but he was still close enough for Riku to feel the small amount of heat radiating off his body in the darkness, the younger boy's breath hitching in his throat as another fork of lightning from outside illuminated the basement for a brief moment.  It was in those several moments of light that Riku found even more of a surprise.  Sora really _was close to him, the boy practically sitting flush up against his side, causing Riku to begin a whole new internal debate.  It could be so easy to just fumble around blindly in the dark... If Riku just turned his head to the side a little bit and leaned in..._

"Don't worry, Sora!  I'll save yoooou!"  Ryo's battle cry was soon followed by a dull whack against something which sounded and awful lot like a wall.  "I'm okay."

"Ryo, it's just me.  What the hell's going on?"

"Riku!  Yay!  You're out of your room!  Yaaaaay!"  Another thud.  Scuffling of small feet.  Then Sora felt the small girl walk straight into him and tip over yet again.  "Whoops!  Sorry, Sora!  Oh, and Riku!  Guess what?!  The power's out!!"

"Thanks, I can tell."

"Sorry, Riku, we thought you were... um... well, a bad guy."  Riku opened his mouth to laugh out loud at Sora's childish comment, but then snapped it shut yet again, having to remind himself that he was _supposed to be the one holding a grudge against... well, against the entire world.  Yep.  Too bad the world included Sora.  Really, it __was too bad._

"What'd you think you were gonna do, smother the guy to death?  Ooh, intimidating."  It was the best Riku could come up with on such confused terms.  He winced at his own words, wishing he didn't have to be so bitter.  Wishing...

Sora pouted moodily in the dark, though the effort was a total waste since Riku couldn't even see it.  The three of them sat in nervous silence which even Ryo seemed hesitant to break, the only noise coming from outside the house as the weather continued to worsen.  Sora was all the while trying not to flinch at ever crash of thunder which rolled over the house, but his efforts were all futile.  There was no denying that on top of his fear of sock-puppets, thunderstorms were just downright unnerving for him.  

"I've got an idea!" Ryo piped up, hopping off of the floor.  The little girl fumbled around, grabbing Sora's hand.  "Okay, you grab Riku's hand so we won't get lost and then we'll all go sit in Sora's room and tell stories!  Just like we used to back home, 'member, Riku?"

Of course Riku remembered.   What a stupid question.  But whatever doubts Riku held over his younger sisters head were shattered to oblivion as he felt Sora slide his hand into Riku's, the younger boy's skin surprisingly soft.  Ryo stood up, both Sora and Riku following suit and the three began a slow, careful trek across the basement floor, making their way towards the guest bedroom lying on the other side.  As they passed by the small window up by the ceiling of the basement, another series of brilliant flashes flittered in through the room, causing Sora to flinch, and although Riku couldn't see it, he could still somehow _feel_ it.  He gave Sora's hand a light, reassuring squeeze... before kicking his mind and hollering at himself, asking just what the hell it was he thought he was doing.

Sora's clothes had been put away earlier when the cookies were in the oven, so Ryo, one hand in front of her to keep the three from walking straight into a doorway, guided them towards the bed and clambered up.  "Hey, come on!  We'll all feel better this way!"

Sora sighed and complied with Ryo's wishes, muffling the voice in his head which squealed in delight at actually being able to sit, no _lie_, in the same bed as Riku.  Riku, who snorted at Ryo's comment and crossed his arms, still standing defiantly at the foot of the bed.  "You've _got to be kidding me."_

Three pairs of eyes widened as they were blinded by a brilliant flash, followed by an ear-splitting _riiiiiiip!  _

_BOOOM!_

In the couple of seconds it had taken for the entire ordeal to take place, Riku had moved from the foot of the bed to the head of the bed, the three of them buried in blankets and covers.  Ryo whined, Sora shivered, and Riku... just pretty much felt disgusted with himself.  Rain was flung against the basement window, the storm obviously reaching its peak.  Ryo gulped loudly before speaking, her arms wrapped tightly around Riku's own elbow.

"Riku, do you think the sky's gonna fall down?"

Riku swallowed and let out a chuckled, masking his own jitteriness as best as possible.  Naturally, it just happened to involve putting someone else down.  "Don't be stupid, Ryo."

"She's not being stupid..." Sora mumbled from the other side of the bed.  Ryo was tucked in between the two boys, still clinging tightly to her older brother's arm.  Riku scowled at Sora's comment.  How dare _he stick up for __Riku's sister? Or... How dare Ryo make Sora stick up for her... Oh, this was all just confusing.  First on the list of Riku's things to do was to retain his pride.  _

"Look who's talking, high-and-mighty-babysitter.  You can't even brave a damn thunderstorm without crying like a baby."

...Second on Riku's list of things to do was to sort out his priorities.  Preferably as soon as possible before he kept creating a rift between himself and ... _someone_.

"Hey!  That's not very nice, Riku!"

"Who cares?"  Riku's snide comment was accompanied by silence between the three in the room, the storm continuing to rage on outside.  Sora was wondering just what the hell Riku was thinking... Probably something along the lines of what an idiot Sora himself was.  Honestly, Ryo's older brother was just a huge puzzle that Sora couldn't figure out.  Granted, the boy had _never been good with puzzles, but still...   His thoughts were interrupted by a surprisingly soft sound barely audible over the storm.  With a small smile gracing his mouth, Sora realized it was Ryo humming to herself._

"What're you humming, Ryo?"

"Dontcha recognize it?"  Ryo hummed a bit more before giggling.  "It's the song that was playin' on the radio this afternoon!  'This monkey can't stand to see you black and blue.  Give you something sweet each time you come inside my jungle book.  What, is it just too good?  Don't say you'll stay 'cause then you'll go away!'"  Ryo laughed at her own singing before releasing her tight grip on Riku's arm and sitting up cross legged in the bed.  "You like that song, right?"

Sora nodded, not remembering that no one could see it in the pitch black of the basement.  Ryo didn't seem to mind much, as though she already knew his response regardless of his affirmation.  

"Hey!  I know what we can do!"

"_What?"  Riku crossed his arms, leaning against the headboard of the bed.  _

"We can play Spark!"

Sora cocked his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows together.  "Huh?  What's Spark?"

"Spark!  I learned it at school!"

"That still doesn't tell us what it is, Squirt," Riku drawled.

"I was gettin' there, Stupid!  Anyway, you just kiss people and see if there's a _spark_!"  Ryo grinned broadly and had the lights been on, either boy next to her may have been able to see a certain glimmer of someone who was far ahead of her own time as far as seven-year-old games were concerned.  Nope, neither Riku nor Sora would find out Ryo's "ultimate plan."  ...Which the girl had actually only devised several moments ago.  Her new game would just be the first step.

"Ummm... Shouldn't you have more people?"  Sora shifted uncomfortably in the darkness, wrapping his arms around his knees.

"It sounds pretty dumb, if you ask me."  Riku had a feeling there was something he was missing there...

"Well I don't see you with any better ideas.  So I'll start!  Okay Sora, you gotta gimme a kiss!"

"WHAT?!"

"RYO!"

"Whaaaat?"  Ryo grinned wickedly.  Her big brother was so predictable sometimes.  "It's how the game goes!"

"Yeah, but... but..." Sora protested lamely.

"Sora could get charged for molestation.  You're, what, seven?  He's more then _twice your age, Ryo.  That'd just be sick if he kissed you."_

"Ohhhh.   Well why didn't you just say so in the first place?  Okay then, Riku, you're only one year older then Sora, you can kiss him!"

Whoops.

Riku's eyes widened and he inwardly kicked himself.  Stupid, stupid, stupid!  He _knew there was something he wasn't seeing!  The fact that his seven year old sister had just backed him into a corner he couldn't find a way out of was more then just a little frustrating for the silver haired boy, so Riku began to hope, __pray, that Sora would do something.  Or just _say_ something.  Argh, __anything to get Riku out of this mess!  _

Was it really all that bad?

Sora thought this all over for a moment.  And then chose to think it over for another long moment...  Hmm.  It couldn't hurt, right?

"Okay, Ryo.  I'll play your game."

YES.  Two points for the little sister.  Riku?  Zip.  Zero.  Zilch.  Natta.  Oh, winning was fun.

Ryo clapped her hands in delight, hopping over Sora to sit on his other side, shoving the brunette up against Riku, much to the older boy's alarm.  Gah!  Sora hadn't done anything!  Well that was just perfect.  Just _great.  Sensing the hesitancy, Ryo chose that moment to pipe up._

"Oh come on, it'll be just like kissing a _girl_!  You can't even see each other 'cause the lights are dead!"  Ryo did have a point there...

"_Fine."  Without warning, Riku leaned in towards where he believed Sora's face was, intending to just give the boy a quick peck and be done with it.  Honestly, anything more and the younger boy was sure to catch on and that was just more than what Riku wanted to deal with at that moment.  Too bad for Riku he didn't know where Sora's face _was_, instead ending up kissing the younger boy's neck._

Shit.

Well, no turning back now.  Might as well try and... nevermind.  Was there really any dignity left to save?  Riku didn't think so.  So Riku had no problem in smirking and nipping a little less-then-gently against Sora's exposed skin, grinning at the gasp it elicited from Sora, who was still partially in shock at the sudden assault.  This wasn't anywhere _near what he'd expected.  Well, at least Riku wouldn't be able to see the scarlet blush creeping up on his face because the lights were--_

"Hey look, the lights are back on!"  Of course.

Riku jerked away from Sora, both of them blinking rapidly at the sudden light before squinting at the one across from them, each thinking pretty much along the same lines.

_I can't believe he **did** that!_

_I can't believe he **let** me do that!_

~~~~~~~

            Several hours later, Ryo had grudgingly let herself be led upstairs and tucked into bed, Sora returning to his own basement room alone.  Riku had disappeared without a trace once the three of them had gotten out of the bed and Sora hadn't seen any sign of the older boy since.  Sora sighed, trudging into his bedroom and sliding his shirt over his head, tossing it to the side.  It wouldn't be so bad if... If what?  If Sora didn't then find himself dwelling on _Riku every minute of the night?  Yes.  If Sora really, truly, and _honestly_ wanted to believe that it was all just a game?  Yes.  But Sora was just lost in all his thoughts and as he crawled under the rumpled covers of his bed, he couldn't help but smile, remembering that Riku had been laying there not so very long ago._

            The storm had been dying down for several hours, leaving only an occasional rumble of thunder and flare of lightning to filter through the small basement windows.  But even that, mixed with all the other events of that day, was enough to keep Sora awake.  The blankets were too warm and the bed too big, making Sora feel completely lost in it.  Completely lost.  He'd been feeling that a lot lately, hadn't he?

            "Still afraid, Sora?"

            The sudden voice caused Sora to yelp and whip his head around to face the bedroom doorway, only to find Riku leaning against the doorframe, a mug of steaming liquid in cupped in his hands.  A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the boy, who in turn returned Sora's quizzical gaze with his own imposing stare.  

            "R-Riku, what're you doing here?"

            Riku rolled his eyes as though it was really the dumbest question in the world.  "The cocoa mix is down here along with the kettle.  I wanted some cocoa, so I came and got some.  Then I heard _you whimpering."_

            "I wasn't whimpering!"

"Sure, Sora.  Whatever you say."

"I _wasn't!"_

Riku smirked, stepping further into the room and looking out the window as the roll of thunder finally caught up with the lightning, the deep noise causing Sora to bite his bottom lip, ensuring the fact that he was _not_ going to whimper.  He hadn't even realized he'd been doing so earlier in the first place.  Erk, how embarrassing.

Setting his mug of cocoa on the bedside table with a small clink of noise, Riku perched on the edge of the bed next to Sora... whom he didn't think had been there just a minute ago.  Riku really didn't even know what he was doing.  It just seemed natural, to go get some cocoa after a thunderstorm and then find out what the noise coming from the room over was.  At least, that's what Riku kept telling himself.  

The two sat in silence for a moment, listening to the rain fall against the window.  Sora's eyelids began to droop, even as another bolt of lightning lit up the outside sky.  It didn't seem so bad now that he wasn't alone...  Slowly but surely, the spiky haired boy began to tip to one side... before sagging pitifully against Riku's shoulder, the rest of his body completely limp like a rag doll. Riku blinked, glancing down at Sora's sleeping form.

"...Sora?"

No response.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Mmpf."  Riku felt one of the smaller boy's arms snake its way around his waist in an almost groggy fashion, as though any energy Sora body had was poured into getting his arm there.  Riku sighed, but couldn't help smiling.  Was there really any harm in it if Sora was asleep?  Odds were that he wouldn't remember any of it since he was probably half asleep when Riku had even walked in the room in the first place.  So Riku cautiously lifted his arms, very careful not to disturb the younger boy who had sprawled himself on his shoulder, and wrapped his arms gently around Sora's waist.

Sora, meanwhile, was decidedly _giddy.  The idea of faking sleep had been a spur of the moment thing, and he hadn't actually expected it to work at all.  But thank god he was wrong!  So Riku _wasn't_ really as that hostile as he pretended to be... Well that was interesting.  Maybe with a little more time..._

The continuing storm didn't faze Sora in the least, his ears only hearing Riku's steady breathing.   Breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing--

"Sora, just go to sleep already and stop faking it.  You're a terrible actor."

Sora just grinned and obeyed.

...........................................................................

            And there's the second chapter!  Hope you enjoyed it, even though it's not quite as long as the first chapter.  An important correction that I realized when glancing at the previous chapter is that I credited 'I Wish I Was Your Lover' to the wrong person!  Gah!  It's Sophie B. _Hawkins, not Hoffman.  =__=  What the heck was I thinking?  I'm also glad that people seem to like Ryo.  I was quite worried people would hold a grudge against her because she isn't a real FF/KH character.  But she is rather necessary for plot and, come on.  She __was responsible for the whole Spark incident. Gotta give credit where credit is due.  Note:  She didn't really want to kiss Sora.  In case I didn't make that obvious enough.  oO;;  Yuck.  That'd just be creepy.  And Spark is _not_ a real game.  _

Now, the upside and the downside as far as updates are concerned?  I've been running on eight hours of sleep for the past two days.  This is bad.  With any luck, there may be another update by _late Friday night.  I hope.  If not, try Saturday morning... mid morning... afternoon maybe... XD  It'll get done soon, I promise.  Thanks for reading!_

Preview for the next chapter:  What exactly is Ryo's "ultimate plan?"  And what happens when she gets Selphie in on it?  Yep, I bet you fear for our heroes already.  I sure do.

~Ori


	3. Something Dark, Something Wild, Somethin...

Prepare yourselves, one and all, for the best written chapter I've ever... well, written!  All thanks to my beta-readers, Chiku and LK (you signed your emails that way, I've no choice but to call you that.  XD)!  Seriously, they helped tremendously, and I'm pretty confident in saying that I don't think this chapter contains any spelling/grammatical errors.  o.o  Err, but don't hold me to my word on that one.  Things never go over well when I make promises like that.

.....................................................................................

**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter Three**

'Something Dark, Something Wild, Something Different'

            "Sora!  Yaaaaaaay!"  

            _Fwup._

            "Owwww.... Ryoooo.... That was my stomach....."

            "Whoops!  Sorry!  Hey, Sooora?"

            "Whaaaa?"

            "Are you awake?"

            "Nooooo."

            "Oh.  That's too bad.  Riku's standing naked in the doorway."

            That did it.  Sora jolted out of bed, sending the small girl perched on his stomach toppling over backwards onto the bed.  Ryo burst into a fit of hysterics as a wide-eyed Sora swung his head back and forth searching the room frantically.

            "Sorry ta get your hopes up, Sora!  Hehe!"

            "Little monster."

            "Rawr!"  The seven year old bounced several times on the bed, making sure Sora was up and had given up any previous hopes of getting back to sleep.  Light was shining merrily through the narrow windows of the basement and Sora wondered how long he'd slept in.  More importantly, he wondered just how much of last night he'd dreamt up.  If Riku had really come into his room or not...  "Come on, Sora!  Wake up, wake up!  It's eleven o'clock!"

            Sora's eyes widened as he dragged himself out of bed, sifting through the spare wardrobe where he had put his clothes the previous day.  He hadn't thought he'd slept in _that_ long.  Pulling out a new set of clothes, he rushed into the bathroom and was back out again in a matter of seconds, wearing a plain red t-shirt and baggy pair of black pants.  Ryo watched as the older boy bustled around the bedroom, mumbling something about losing a shoe, finding a shoe, and then proceeding to mumble something about losing a sock.

            "Sora, there's a sock hanging out of your pocket."

            "Ohhhh, there it is."  Sora plopped down on the floor, pulling on his socks and shoes, looking up at Ryo through his bangs, the small girl still perched on his unmade bed.  "So what do you wanna do today, Ryo?"

            The blonde pondered this a moment, swinging her legs back and forth from the edge of the bed.  Finally, she grinned and hopped off the bed down to Sora's level, tugging on his arm.  "Well, first we can go upstairs and find Riku!  Then we can all go shopping!  Ooh, and I have money too!  Mummy left me some!   I need to buy some shoes and I need to buy some hair scrunchies and I need to buy a puppy, and I need to buy--"  Sora pretty much just gave up listening after that point, allowing himself to be dragged up to the main floor of the house by the eager little seven year old.

            Oh dear.  Not more shopping.  Sora didn't think he was physically capable of handling more time surrounded by girls in a mall.  Especially not Kairi and Selphie.  Sora sighed inwardly, adding Kairi's boyfriend to the mental list.  Yes, him too.  How could Sora ever forget?  But oddly enough, Sora's mind was more occupied wondering if Riku would be willing to go instead of worrying about Kairi and her second head.  

            Both Sora and Ryo suddenly paused at the head of the basement stairs, hearing a voice drifting out from the kitchen....  

            "...I'll do such things to ease your pain, free your mind and you won't feel ashamed.  Shucks, for me there is no other.  You're the only shoe that fits, I can't imagine I'll grow out of it.  Damn, I wish I was your--"

            "Awww!  You like that song _too Riku, huh?"  Were it physically possible, Riku would definitely be gathering storm clouds over his head as he spun around to face his younger sister who had crawled out of the basement.  The older boy seemed to glare even more ferociously as he noticed Sora blinking back at him from the basement doorway._

            "Damnit!  Can't I do anything anymore without be monitored?!"

            "But I wasn't--"

            "Yeah, you weren't, you weren't, you weren't, I don't really _care.  Just stay outta my way, Babysitting Wonder."  Riku snorted as he brushed past Ryo and Sora, carrying the sandwich he'd made for himself in the kitchen on a plate in his hand.  Sora frowned at Riku's retreating back.  Well __that was completely uncalled for!  Maybe the entire thing last night... Maybe it had just been a dream after all._

            "Well too bad your _attitude _doesn't match your _singing skills, Ri-ku."  Sora felt like kicking himself after he realized he'd said that.  He hadn't really _meant _to say it!  But with the look Riku gave him as he turned around to face the younger boy, Sora figured it didn't matter, since it looked like he'd be dead in a matter of seconds anyway.  _

            "You suck at comebacks, Sora."

            "Yeah?  Well you suck too!  Suck _dick_!"  Oh dear god, this was getting way out of hand! But for some reason words just kept spilling right out of Sora's mouth, leaving the boy to try and frantically pick up the pieces.  This was bad, this was bad... Why _now of all times, in front of __Riku of all people???  Leave it to Sora to lose his temper at the wrong moment..._

            Riku narrowed his eyes, forcefully setting his plate on the small table in the hallway.  "_What did you say?" he asked, his cool voice deadly quiet.  Even Ryo had to gulp and shy away from her older brother.  Things did __not look good..._

            "I ah... Well, I said you suck..."  Sora grinned sheepishly.

            "Suck.  _What_?"

            "Suck... Popsicles?"  Nice try.

            "Really?  I could've _sworn you said something else, Sora.  Come on now, don't be __shy or anything.  What's there to be afraid of?" Riku asked, smirking evilly._

            Hmm... let's see... _you_.  Sora was well aware of the fact that the previous three-foot distance between the two boys had closed to two feet.... one foot.... six inches... and was gradually becoming smaller and smaller as his brain slipped into overdrive.  Don't panic, don't panic, just whatever you do, _don't panic_!  Or say anything _stupid!_

            "Well... I said you suck dick."  ...Like that.  Even Riku himself seemed taken aback by Sora's, well, forwardness.  The boy didn't have to be _that_ honest about it, really!  It didn't take more then a few seconds for Riku to regain his composure, finally sealing the distance between himself and Sora with one last step forward, bringing the two boys' foreheads together gently.  Another smirk tugging at his lips, Riku spoke so softly that only Sora could hear him, leaving poor Ryo absolutely clueless as to what was going on.

            "You wish, Sora."

            "_What?!" _

            Still speaking barely above a whisper, Riku simply broke into a wicked grin.  "I said, my dear, _dear friend, that you wish.  You _wish_ I sucked dick, hm?"  And at the exact moment Ryo nervously glanced at the clock, that _exact_ moment the little girl wasn't looking, Riku's wicked grin changed to one of triumph as he flicked his tongue out of his mouth, grazing it against Sora's lips in a _way_ more-then-just-suggestive manner._

            And so it was that Riku got the last laugh, spinning on his heel, picking up his sandwich and heading up the stairs in one fluent movement, leaving Sora standing in the hallway, gaping like a fool.  Gaping like a fool and _seriously_ hoping that if anything had to be a dream, then that would be it... Or not...  Humiliation versus Riku's tongue.  Damn.  Sora hated decisions.  It didn't help that his brain seemed to have frozen over since his encounter with Riku, either.  Ryo however, seemed mostly unfazed by the entire incident, hesitantly calling after her brother.

            "Riku, we're going' shopping later!  You wanna come?"

            It only took the older boy one look at Sora's face for Riku to smile sweetly and glance down at Ryo.

            "Sure.  I'd _love_ to."

~~~~~~~

            "Sora!  He-ey!"  Selphie bounced over to her friend giving him a quick hug before noticing the two people several feet behind her.  Instantly, the teenage girl was torn between the drop-dead gorgeous guy and the simply cute and adorable little kid.  Selphie being who she was, her mind seemed program to focus on things relating to her in some way.  Which meant cute.  "Ohmigod!  Soraaaaa!  Who's this?"  

            "Hiya!  I'm Ryo, please ta meetcha!"  Ryo beamed and stuck her small hand out towards Selphie who had crouched down in front of the girl.  Selphie squealed in delight, and already it was obvious to Sora that putting Ryo and Selphie within twenty yards of each other was going to be bad news.  There was absolutely _no_ way around it.  But his mind was snapped out of this realization as Kairi approached the group with a warm smile on her face.  Odd, Sora couldn't find her boyfriend anywhere in sight.

            "Hey, Kairi!  Where's Keno?" Sora asked, grinning at his friend.  Finally, Kairi might act like her old normal self as long as she wasn't surrounded by that downright obnoxious idiot so loosely termed as her boyfriend.

            "Oh, he's sick today..." But Kairi only seemed half interested on the topic at hand as her eyes wandered past Sora, first to Selphie and the tiny blonde girl bouncing around in front of her, and then finally landing on none other then Riku, who was leaning aimlessly against a wall, arms crossed and staring at the disturbing display of likeness between Selphie and Ryo. Kairi grinned, winking at Sora, instantly causing the boy to fear for the worse.  No, no, no, Kairi couldn't _possibly..._

            "Hey, there!  Sora didn't introduce us before!  I'm Kairi, you?"  Riku looked up from Ryo and Selphie, blinking back at Kairi.  Due to Sora's seething facial expression, Kairi's sugary nature, and the sudden tension surrounding all three of them, it didn't take long for Riku to draw some good conclusions and formulate a pretty concrete plan.  Heh, so Sora would make fun of _him_, would he now?

            "Riku.  I'm afraid Sora didn't tell me he knew such pretty girls either."  Riku flashed Kairi a sparkling grin, causing the girl to giggle shyly.  Sora was, to put it bluntly, just _livid.  There was no way, _no way_, that Kairi was flirting with Riku, and he, without a snide comment, wicked remark, or evil joke, was flirting _back_!  Not possible and __not fair!  But Sora couldn't exactly tell Kairi to back off... That would mean telling her how he felt about Riku, who he'd only known for a few days!  Wait a minute... Since when did Sora start caring about Riku?? Oh, that's right.  Ever since he set eyes on the silver haired idiot.  How could Sora possibly forget?  ...But did he really care about him?  Even through his bad ass attitude, Sora couldn't help but think there was something sweeter underneath all that.  _

            Not that Sora's thoughts mattered much at that moment.  With a dejected sigh, the brunette tried to prepare himself for the living hell that the day was sure to have in store for him.  Sora wrapped himself up in his own mind, trying to figure out how to get Kairi to back away from Riku without making everything obvious...  He was _so wrapped up, he didn't even notice Ryo tug Selphie off to the side of the group and begin to talk quietly to the older girl.  No one noticed.  No one except Selphie, of course.  And if anyone __had been looking at the two hyperactive girls, they would have seen a grin of confidence plastered on Ryo's small, innocent face, as well as a fascinated and delighted expression worn by Selphie.  Ryo couldn't help it!  She knew she could trust this girl to help her in her plans... _

            But her older brother certainly did seem to be putting a roadblock in those plans at that moment.

            "Yeah, we just moved to the island about a month ago.  Didn't need to start up my junior year since I'd already finished school back on the mainland, so that's why you didn't see me at school."

            "Oh!  Well that makes sense!  I was worried I might have totally missed you or something!" Kairi said with a giggle.

            "Trust me, I would've seen _you_."  Riku winked at her as the group began to drift away from the mall's entrance, Ryo and Selphie leading the way and speaking with quiet excitement between themselves, Riku and Kairi walking together in the back, and Sora drifting in the middle.  This was even _worse then the normal occasions Sora was stuck going to the mall with Kairi, Keno, and Selphie.  As a matter of fact, it seemed as if things couldn't possibly get much worse.  Sora just felt like bashing his head against the nearest wall, the sad thing being that he doubted anyone would have even noticed._

             "Hey, I have an idea!"  Selphie spun around from her conversation with Ryo, beaming like a lunatic.  Or just beaming like Selphie normally did.  There wasn't much of a difference between the two.  "Let's all go grab some smoothies and _then we can go shopping!  I'm starved!"_

            "But you just had an entire box of gobstoppers!" Kairi protested.

            "Yeah, yeah, but I need to meet my daily sugar quota and I'm _way behind!"_

            "You're diabetic?"  Riku cocked his head to the side, pondering the energetic girl in front of him.

            "No, she's just Selphie."

            "Ah, I see."

            Sora, who had been trying to put a word into the conversation since it started, appeared to lose any opportunity he had as the four around him burst into laughter, continuing their procession towards a small cafe with a neon sign reading 'Smoothie World' hanging over it.  So instead he just gritted his teeth and did his best _not to pout as they all walked into Smoothie World._

            Dear Smoothie World... Sora loved that place.  Every time he was dragged to the mall, everything always seemed so much better when he was drinking a naturally flavored smoothie.  At least, the customers were _told they were naturally flavored.  Who cared if the drinks weren't?  Whatever it was that was used to make the smoothies there, it worked, and that was all that mattered.  _

            "Hiya, Bill!" Selphie chirped, bouncing up and down at the counter.

            "I'm not _Bill, for the millionth time.  My name is Eric.  _Eric_."  Sure enough, the nametag for the employee behind the counter _did_ read "Hello!  My name is Eric!"  This fact didn't seem to change Selphie's mind in the slightest though._

            "Alrighty, Bill, I'm gonna have my usual strawberry banana smoothie pleeeease," Selphie said, grinning at the aggravated sigh with came from "Bill's" mouth.

            "I'll have banana!" Ryo said, waving at Bill from the ground.

            "I'll have... hmm... I'll have peach mango, please," came Kairi's polite request.

            "And I'll take peach mango too."  Riku grinned over at Kairi, who couldn't help but blush slightly and look at the floor, smiling.  Sora unconsciously narrowed his eyes at the pair, only drawn out of his anger by Bill's annoyed cough from behind the counter, awaiting Sora's order.

            "Oh... umm... I'll just have a strawberry smoothie... Please..."

            Riku walked up towards Selphie, digging out his wallet.  "Here, let me pay."

            "No way!  It's my turn to pay!"

            "Well, you don't have to today."

            "But we always rotate turns!  It's my turn!  Put your wallet away, Riku!"

            "Well consider this my first turn."

            "But it's _mine!"_

            "Selphie, let Riku pay.  It's not that big a deal."

            "Exactly.  I can handle it."

            "But... but... No!"

            "Why not?"

            "Because you're _new_ and it's _my turn."_

            "We've already established that."

            "**Will you guys just ****shut up?!"  Everyone turned to gape at Sora's sudden outburst, the normally cheery youth now visibly seething with anger.  Sora's fists were clenched at his sides, his brilliant blue eyes narrowed at the three teens in front of him.  Ryo watched the entire incident, wide-eyed with intrigue, mentally taking note of everything.  It was all really interesting...  But someone would definitely have to talk to that Kairi girl.  Preferably _sooner rather than later._**

            "If you can't decide who's paying, **I'll** pay."  Sora reached into his pocket and put a twenty on the countertop, still glaring at Selphie, Kairi, and Riku, none of whom made any move to stop him from paying.  The moment was interrupted by Bill clearing his throat quietly, Sora turning to look at him.

            "Ah, we've only got enough fruit for one peach and mango smoothie.  You wanna pick a different flavor, folks?"

            Riku smiled and shook his head.  "I think Kairi and I can share.  That is, unless she has a problem with it?"  He looked over at the girl next to him, whom simply blushed and smiled again, shaking her head.

            "No, I'm fine with it."

            No, no, no!  Why was this happening?!  Sora couldn't tell who he wanted to strangle more at that moment, Riku or Kairi.  Did Riku really like Kairi?  More importantly, what the hell was that girl thinking?!  She already had a boyfriend!  She wasn't just going to drop Keno like a sack of potatoes and run off merrily with this new kid, was she?  She wasn't just going to _destroy Sora in the process, was she?!  Sora didn't voice any of his thoughts, though he was inwardly trying to figure out what the hell to do._

            At the exact same moment, Selphie was trying to figure out what had gotten into Kairi as well.  She and Keno were so cute together!  Yes, this Riku guy was pretty damn sexy, but as her and Ryo had already discussed, he didn't even like girls!  So why was he flirting so outrageously with Kairi?  If he ended up hurting her...  Glancing over at Sora, Selphie realized that Sora was the one who would probably wind up getting hurt the most out of all this.  

            "Kairi, I need to talk to you!" Sora and Selphie demanded in unison.  Each gaped at the other, both inwardly hoping that they would back down first.

            "Selphie, you just have to wait.  This is more important."  Obviously, neither had to wait very long.  Sora wasn't going to stand around and have _everyone_ falling head over heels for Riku, least of all Selphie too!  Grabbing Kairi's arm, Sora dragged his friend out of Smoothie World and into the main walkway of the mall, temporarily out of sight of the rest of their friends, lost in the crowds of the mall.

            "Sora, what's going on?!"  Kairi looked both exasperated at Sora's interruption as well as concerned for her best friend's apparent emergency.

            "Kairi, what the hell are you _doing_?!  You already _have a boyfriend!  And I __know you already have a boyfriend because I see you two attached to each other every single weekend when I'm __dragged to this stupid mall!  Why do you want Riku so much?!"_

            "Why do you care so much?"

            "I mean, honestly, if you were single, okay, I could accept that.  Nevermind, no I couldn't!  Just... Argh!  You've only just met him half an hour ago and you're already _glued to the idiot!"_

            "Sora, why do you care so much?"

            "I've never _seen_ you act that way except around Keno!  And even then, that makes sense because he _is_ your boyfriend and--"

            "Sora!"

            "What?!"

            Kairi frowned at her friend, gripping his shoulders in her hands.  Honestly, it was hard to get through Sora's thick skull sometimes.  "_Why do you care so much?" _

            "..."

            "Sora?"

            "..."

            "Sora, what's wrong?  Why can't you just tell me?"  Wasn't it Kairi who was supposed to be feeling guilty?  If that was the case, then why did Sora suddenly feel like shit?  He should be able to tell her why he was so frustrated with her, why he didn't want her flirting with Riku.  But all he could come up with was...

            "Because... you're my friend.  And I don't want to see you make a mistake like that.  You've already got Keno... Aren't you happy with him, Kairi?"  Thankfully, it worked, and Kairi released Sora's shoulders, looking at the floor guiltily.  Sora was right.  She didn't know what she'd been thinking when she'd even started the whole thing in the first place.

            "I'm sorry, Sora..." Kairi gave him a small smile.  A Kairi smile.  Sora felt about ready to drop dead with relief.  The Kairi he knew was _finally _back.  Sheesh, it sure took her long enough.  "Forgive me?"

            Sora laughed nervously, again feeling a small twinge of guilt at not having told Kairi the _real_ reason he didn't like her flirting with Riku.  "Yeah, yeah, no problem!  Uh oh, looks like you better talk to Selphie or she's gonna burst."  Sora pointed at the brown haired girl who was already making her way towards Kairi and Sora through the crowd of people walking around the mall.

            "Alright, Sora!  Your time's up and your smoothie's ready!  Bill found some more fruit in the storage room too, so there's enough for Kairi's own smoothie."  Selphie grinned, holding her own drink in her hand and presented Kairi's peach mango smoothie to the girl in the other.  Grinning, Sora waved at the two girls and disappeared back into the smoothie shop, picking up his drink from the counter, his previously smiling mouth curled into a frown as he noticed a small drip of strawberry smoothie crawling down the side of his cup.  Licking the rim of the cup, happily savoring the sweet taste in his mouth, Sora started walking over to get a few napkins from the dispenser on the other side of the cafe.

            _Tug... tug...  Stupid napkin dispenser.  Sora set his strawberry smoothie down next to it and, now using both hands, attempted to wrestle a napkin out.  _Rip._  Gyah!  Sora's eyes widened in surprise as he suddenly felt something pressed up very close behind him...  And his eyes widened ever more as he heard a cool and smooth voice in his ear._

            "Honestly, Sora, can't you even get some napkins without needing help?"  Riku smirked, delighted at the reaction he was getting from Sora.  Yes, flirting with Kairi had gotten the right response from the boy as well, but oddly enough, Riku had felt downright guilty about it the entire time.  Which was outrageously _strange for Riku, who just never felt guilty about things like that on a regular basis.  _

            "R-R-Riku?" Sora managed to choke out, a blush rising to his face as he felt the older boy's arm slide past his waist and successfully retrieve five napkins from the stupid metal contraption in front of him.  

            "No, Sora, it's the tooth fairy."  Riku rolled his eyes, resentfully pulling away from the younger boy and handing Ryo one of the napkins from the small pile he carried.  With a grin, he held one out to Sora, who numbly took it with a mumbled 'thank you.'  Yep.  He definitely liked this shocked reaction better then the downright outraged one from earlier that day.  As fun as that outraged one had been, and all...

            The group rejoined outside of Smoothie World, Selphie and Kairi having finished their conversation just as the rest of them walked outside.  Neither Riku nor Sora noticed the smug look which passed between all three girls at the moment, and the devilish smirk that slowly spread across Ryo's face.  It sure was a good thing that boys were naturally oblivious.  

          "Alrighty!  How 'bout if we swing by the Foot Emporium for some shoes for Ryo, and then just go clothes shopping?  Sounds good to me!  Sound good to you, Kairi?"

            "Sounds good to me!  You, Ryo?"

            "Sounds good to me too!  Hehe!  Let's go!"

            Riku and Sora definitely picked something up there.  Though neither boy knew what the hell that was all about, neither of them could shake the fact that the three girls walking in front of them were definitely up to something...

~~~~~~~

            An hour or so later, Sora found himself in a large clothing store, being forced to buy at least one thing.  Selphie and Kairi had both agreed that Sora never bought anything and that if he had to buy something, it might as well be clothing.  Ryo meanwhile, had convinced Riku that he needed new clothing as well, since most of his shirts were turtlenecks or just long sleeved due to the cooler weather they'd had back at their old house.  Both boys grudgingly allowed themselves to be shoved into the clothing section, the three girls disappearing in an instant, apparently nowhere to be found.  Too lazy to go look for them, Sora hurriedly browsed through the long aisles of clothes, anxious to just find a somewhat decent shirt and get out of there.  Most of the clothes this place sold were too tight anyway.  Whatever he bought, Sora doubted he'd ever wear it in the first place.  

            Sighing, he pulled out a black t-shirt at random from the sale rack, figuring he'd just buy the plainest thing he could.  Maybe he'd even be able to wear it under a jacket... or _something.  Sora then looked around, trying to find out where Riku had disappeared to, only to find the older boy nowhere in sight.  Actually, Riku had probably already headed off to the dressing rooms to try on whatever it was he had to buy.  Sighing again, Sora began to walk towards the dressing rooms on the other side of the store._

            Meanwhile, at said dressing rooms, there was a slight commotion going on.  

            "I'm sorry, little girl, but I don't know where your brother is.  You say you found her where, again?"  The employee standing in front of the dressing rooms turned to Kairi inquisitively.  He did find it slightly strange that the girl had brought the little kid to the male dressing room instead of somewhere else, but oh well.  

            "I found her over by the men's shoes department, so I figured her brother might be somewhere around here."  Ryo sniffed pathetically next to Kairi as she spoke.  The man nodded, it all making sense then.  He thought things over a moment before running his fingers through his short hair.

            "Hmm... Alright.  I'll take her up to security who can let out an announcement about a lost kid, okay?  Uhh... Hey, can you just stand here and assign numbers to people who want to use the dressing rooms?  This won't take but a minute, I swear."

            Kairi grinned and accepted the numbered cards the man handed to her.  "Oh, it's no problem, sir!  Just make sure the little kid gets back to her brother, okay?"  The man nodded and took Ryo's hand, leading her down the aisles of the department store towards the front.  Kairi broke into a fit of giggles before trying to recompose herself, noticing Riku already approaching.  Perfect timing!

            "Hey, what are you doing here?"  Riku blinked at Kairi, who held out a card with the number 11 for him with a pitifully constrained smile.

            "Oh, the guy on duty here got a call from his mother, so he had to go get the phone up front and just asked me to fill in for a while.  Guess I look pretty trustworthy, huh?"  Riku took the number and shook his head, laughing as he disappeared into the dressing rooms.  Score!

            "Selphie!"  Kairi whispered.  The brown haired girl poked her head out from a nearby rack of clothes, another one of her trademark grins on her face.  She gave Kairi a quick nod and silently scampered into the area for the men's dressing rooms.  The way the dressing rooms were set up, one need only walk in, set their number on a peg outside one of the numbered stalls, and close the curtain behind them, making it quiet obvious that the stall was occupied.  Stifling her delighted laughter, Selphie removed the number 11 from the peg outside Riku's dressing stall, quickly and quietly returning the number to Kairi before standing next to her, both girls ready just as Sora came around the bend towards the dressing rooms.

            "Hey, Sora!  The guy who works here left us in charge for a couple minutes while he went to go talk to his mom on the phone!  Hehehe, so here's your number!"  Sora couldn't figure out what Kairi thought was so funny about handing him a number, but he didn't really mind.  Maybe she was just giggling for the heck of it.  

            "Uhh... thanks, Kairi," Sora said with a smile, walking into the hallway of dressing rooms, looking for the stall numbered eleven.  Eight, nine, ten... There it was!  Placing his number on the peg, Sora reached out for the curtain and--

            "Now, Selphie!" Kairi hissed in a whisper.  Selphie grinned and leaned against the wall, hitting a light switch with a swift nude of her shoulder blade, plunging the dressing rooms into complete and total darkness.

            "Yagh!"  Sora stumbled on his way into the dressing stall, the curtain flying shut behind him.  Since when had the lights gone--  His eyes widened in the darkness as he bumped into something with felt remarkably like bare skin... Some_one._  "Whoa!  I-I'm sorry, I didn't know there was anyone in--"

            "Sora?" Riku asked from the darkness.  

            "Riku??"  Sora was quite lost and confused for a moment, but suddenly started to figure everything out... Of course!  Kairi in charge of handing out numbers for the dressing rooms... Mysterious disappearance of Selphie and Ryo, who he'd earlier assumed were just shopping together.  ...Perhaps no one gave Ryo the credit she deserved if the seven-year-old was smart enough to come up with that.

            "The one and only."  Sora couldn't decide if Riku's voice sounded closer then it had before, or if it was just his imagination playing tricks on him.

            "Oh," Sora replied, completely at a loss for words.  The darkness of the dressing room was even _darker then that of the basement, which had at least had windows when the power had died the night before.  Suddenly feeling a breath of air against his neck, Sora definitely knew Riku was closer then he was before.  "Ah... Sorry... again... R-Riku...  I just--" Sora's babble was cut off by Riku sealing the gap between them with a warm kiss which quickly seemed to accelerate to just downright steamy as Riku plunged his tongue into Sora's mouth without a second thought._

            Taken aback by the sudden confrontation, Sora had no idea how he was supposed to respond.  But it felt so good... Riku wrapped an arm securely around Sora's waist, his other hand sliding teasingly up Sora's shirt, his hand seeming more like a burning brand then actual skin.  Sora...

            "Sora, Sora, are you okay?!"

            Sora...

            "I think he's coming around...  Sora?"

            Sora moaned and sat up.  What the hell had just happened?  He was making out with Riku and then-- Sitting up caused the boy's head to throb and Sora winced at the pain.  Or... maybe he hadn't been making out with Riku after all.  

            "W-what happened?"  Sora touched his forehead gingerly, already feeling a large lump swelling up.  He grimaced at the contact and quickly snatched his own hand away from his forehead.

            "You've been unconscious for about two minutes, Sora!  Umm... See, the lights went out because Selphie leaned against the light switch, and then you started walking into the wrong dressing room, but... You walked into the wall... Ehehe.  Not the stall itself.  The wall separating two of them.  And you must've hit it pretty hard to go down like that.  Anyway, Selphie turned the light on once we heard the thud and then--" Kairi was interrupted by a small triumphant voice from behind them.

            "There's my broth--" Ryo gaped at the scene in the dressing room.  No way!  Everything had worked out perfectly!  What could've possibly gone wrong in her plan?!  

            "He's right back where we started??"  The man beside her sighed, but blinked at Sora in confusion.  Kairi and Selphie grinned back innocently, Kairi handing over the stack of numbered cards.

            "He... ah.... just walked into a wall.  No biggie.  He's right as rain now!  Thanks for helping the kid out, sir!  Ah, we'll be seeing you!  Come on everyone!"  Kairi, Selphie, and Ryo all walked as fast as they could out of the dressing rooms, trying to avoid any further questioning, Riku and Sora hurrying to catch up to them.  Ryo frowned to herself.  Clumsy Sora... She'd just given him the perfect opportunity and he just had to go and walk into a wall.  Great, just great.  Thankfully, Ryo was a seven year old, and as everyone knows, seven year olds have an infinite supply of ideas locked away inside their brains.  Kairi and Selphie might not be there to help her, but Ryo would go through with her big plan even without anyone's help.  

.............................................

            Whew!  Well that was a pretty long chapter.  *grins evilly*  I know, I know.  The thing with having Sora walk into a wall instead of make out with Riku _was_ sort of unfair to everyone, but... Okay, nevermind.  It's not plot-necessary.  ^___^  I just felt like being evil!  As a random note, it looks like I'll be snowed in for a few days.  Hahahaha!  Bring me your worst, blizzard!  I've got my computer and my brain, so you can't keep me from updating my fanfiction!  *shakes fist in defiance* 

            Preview for the next chapter:  How's Sora holding down the fort several days after the mall incident?  What other tricks does Ryo have in store for the boys?  Why is Riku always such a damn bastard?  And most importantly... When the heck are Riku and Sora **really** going to make out?  All this and more to be had in chapter four!  ...O_O  Oh dear.  That rhymed.

~Ori


	4. Let's Turn Some Tables

            Yay for updates!  I'm packing a whole lot of stuff into this chapter, especially for it just being part of a little Valentine's Day project.  oO;  I need to get back to One for the Band...  Enjoy, though!  Gyaaaah... This chapter didn't get to be beta read because I felt I'd been holding on to it so long.  Thus the craptastic nature of it.  Please forgive me.  ...Standard disclaimer, you know.  Kingdom Hearts isn't mine.  Blah blah blee blah blee blah.

..............................................

**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter Four**

'Let's Turn Some Tables'

            "Alright, that's it.  I swear I'm killing him," Riku snarled at the doorway to the basement, banging on the door loudly.  "Sora, you _bastard!  OPEN the damn door!"  It had been five days since the entire episode at the mall and Riku hadn't seen Sora at all in that time.  Somehow, someway, the two boys had managed to avoid ever being in the same room, each of them wandering aimlessly about the large house.  Well, Riku was just about sick of it.  Sora might as well be dead if he never saw the kid.  What made matters worse was the fact that he hadn't seen much of his little sister either.  Ryo seemed to tag along with Sora and even though he'd rarely seen either of them, Riku wasn't deaf to their laughter which would echo across the otherwise empty house.  _

            "Sorry, Riku!  Can't find the light switch!  Oww!"  Several loud thumping noises followed Sora's proclamation, Ryo's laughter following that.  Riku felt like he'd been shoved back into a time warp when he felt jealous and left out if he had somehow ended being the third wheel in a game of tag.  This was just far too messed up for his liking.

            "Well _find the switch and __open the door!  NOW!"_

            There was a loud scuffle heard from the basement... rapid footsteps pounding up the stairs... a thud, some laughter... And _finally_ the door opened, leaving Sora without barrier between him and a very disgruntled looking Riku.

            "Why the hell are you locking doors anyway?" Riku asked, narrowing his eyes at the boy in front of him.

            "Hey, wasn't my idea.  Look at Ryo."  Sora turned around and headed back down the basement stairs, completely snubbing Riku.  He **hated** that.  How dare that stupid little brat ignore him like that!  Scowling, Riku proceeded to follow Sora down the stairs, wanting to see just what could have been so interesting that--

            Oh.  

            The entire basement was absolutely covered in cardboard boxes from floor to ceiling.  Not just randomly stacked cardboard boxes, but boxes making the most astounding cardboard castle Riku had ever laid eyes on.  Towers and arches and bridges and walls... Surprisingly, there wasn't anything obviously missing from it.  Blankets had been draped over some of the walls, a 'doorway' cut into the largest box which help to make up the front of the cardboard structure.  Ryo poked her head out from one of the tall narrow boxes which served as a tower, beaming down at Riku.

            "Riku!  Yaaaaay!  See what Sora and I made?  It's a castle!"

            Riku frowned.  "I can tell."  Sora glanced at the older boy's face, concerned at his reaction.

            "We used the boxes you guys used to move here.  There were a ton in your garage, so Ryo said we could use those," Sora explained.  Why did Riku seem so upset?  The silver haired boy glared icily at Sora, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

            "God, Sora.  I thought you might at least be smart enough not to let Ryo's weight depend on a flimsy piece of cardboard.  That thing could break easily."  Sora looked over at Ryo, who was in turn looking down at the two older boys with interest from up inside the makeshift tower.  

            "Ah..."

            "Some babysitter.  You can't even take care of yourself."  Okay, so this wasn't exactly how Riku had wanted the conversation to go.  In a way, he did feel guilty about always being so cruel to Sora, but it was that fact alone that only made him worse.  He never felt any remorse for his actions.  Why did he have to feel bad for Sora, of all people?  Annoying, loud, spiky haired, rambunctious, adorable Sora?  ...Scratch that.  Riku made a mental note to just avoid trying to label Sora, instead 

            Turning towards the stairwell, Riku raked his fingers through silver locks, disappearing back up the way he came.  Sora scowled at his retreating figure.  That was it?!  Just barge downstairs, bitch about some cardboard boxes, and insult Sora in the process?  Was that all Riku was _ever capable of doing?  Sora wasn't having it.  The spiky haired youth charged up the stairs right behind the older boy, determined to... Well, Sora didn't quite know what he was determined to do, but he was sure as hell going to do it!_

            By the time Sora had caught up with Riku, moving as quietly as possible, Riku was rummaging through the refrigerator in the upstairs kitchen, pulling out a soda can and popping back the tab, and bringing the can to his lips.

            "Hey, Riku, do you have a problem with me?"  The sudden voice of the younger boy startled Riku into spurting the soda in his mouth into the sink, choking and gasping for air.  Where the hell had Sora come from?!

            "Riku, are you okay?"

            Of course he wasn't okay, honestly!  It was plain as day that he was _choking_.

            "I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to startle you!"

            Everything was starting to go speckled from the coughing...

            "Riku!"  Riku slumped against the side of the counter before beginning to topple over backwards, nearly fainting from lack of oxygen.  At the last second, Sora's legs finally started responding to the urgent commands his brain had been screaming at him, causing Sora to dart forward, hooking his arms up under Riku's, catching the falling boy from behind.

            Riku's eyes widened, surprised by the sudden warmth surrounding him, when he'd been expecting to slam into the tile floor in seconds.  He glanced up through his stray stands of silver hair, only to find himself inches away from the face of his current object-of-desire.  Why oh why did it have to be Sora?  Crystal clear blue eyes blinked down at him, brown bangs falling over Sora's face, just begging to be brushed away...

            "Riku, are you alright?"

            "I'd be _better if you'd stop coddling me like my mother, Sora."  Riku squirmed out of the younger boy's grasp, a scowl replacing his previous dazed expression. _

            Sora smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.  "Maybe you just need to be coddled."

            "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

            "You know what I think, Riku?"  Obviously, it was a rhetorical question, since Sora gave Riku no time to answer his question before answering it himself.  "I think there's more to you then you're letting anyone see.  I think you're not really the bitter asshole you try to seem.  And most importantly, I think you're pathetic."  Yep.  Sora figured that pretty much just summed it all up, right there.

            Riku couldn't help but gawk at Sora, if only for a moment, before breaking out into an all out glare.  "What the fuck do you know anyway, Sora?  You don't know me!"

            His glare was matched with Sora's own as the smaller boy drew himself up to his full height, even though he still came several inches short of Riku.  "I think I probably know you better then _you do!  You can't ev--"  Sora let out a pained yelp as Riku's fist suddenly made contact with his jaw.  Where had that come from?!_

            "Just shut the hell up, Sora.  Just stop it.  You're pissing me off."  Riku was suddenly very close to him, even though Sora was still clutching his jaw, his brilliant blue eyes contorted with fear and alarm.  What was going on?  Riku just kept drawing closer, practically pressing both of their bodies flat against each other, before he reached up and cupped Sora's injured face with one hand.  The act was so gentle... so loving... But it had been Riku who'd dealt the blow in the first place.

            "Riku, wha--"

            The corners of Riku's mouth twitched up into something that Sora would just have to take for a smile.  "I thought I told you to shut up," Riku murmured before brushing his lips gently against Sora's bruised jaw.  The mixture of pain coming from the bruise as well as the joy coming from the fact that it was _Riku kissing him was enough to make Sora nearly tip right over, possibly to crash to the floor much like Riku would have had Sora not acted at the last moment to catch him.  Thankfully, Riku had one hand in a vice-grip on Sora's waist and the older boy's weight was pushing him against the kitchen counter, so there wasn't too much of a threat of really falling over._

            Dying on the spot... That was another matter.

            Riku's lips continued to play gently across the forming bruise on Sora's face before trailing down his neck, teeth periodically grazing against the younger boy's exposed skin, any pain inflicted soon being soothed by those lips again.  Sora simply stood there numbly, completely shocked by the sudden change of mood in Riku.  But wasn't it what he wanted?  Why couldn't he respond?  

            Before he could kick his brain into working properly, Riku brushed a light kiss over his lips and pulled away from Sora, just as Ryo appeared at the top of the basement stairs.  The seven year old girl looked back and forth between the older boys, not _completely _oblivious to what had just happened, as many would assume.

            "Riku, I took down the boxes..."

            "Good."  Riku spoke as if nothing had just happened, as if he were still livid about the entire thing.  Sora cautiously peered at Riku from out of the corner of his eye, only to find that there was absolutely nothing different about the older boy.  He still radiated that ice cold presence he always seemed to carry around with him, not the caring nature he'd been demonstrating only moments ago.

            "Riku..." Sora started.

            "_What?"_

            "...I... Nothing."  He hadn't even known what he was going to say in the first place... Sora had just felt there was _something_ that needed to be said.

            "Hmpf.  Whatever."  And just like that, Riku was gone, back upstairs to his room, no doubt.  Sora stared after him, barely hearing Ryo as the girl finally spoke, her small voice riddled with concern.

            "Sora... Are you okay?"

~~~~~~~~

            Everything was becoming so routine... When Riku wasn't in the picture at all, Sora went through the same ordeal, day in and day out.  Well, not _all_ of it was the same.  Ryo would constantly be making up new games for them to play, providing a seemingly endless source of fun and adventure, dragging Sora back to the days when life was all about games.  He couldn't help but wonder if Riku had somehow missed out on all that.  If Riku had somehow caused himself to go through all the pain in the first place.

            It was when Ryo would go to sleep that Sora would slip into that routine state.  He'd take a shower and go into the basement, the only part of the huge house where he felt secure.  And once there, he would turn on the radio, listening to everything and anything it had to offer to him, unable to shake the belief that if he listened enough, the radio might just take pity on him and give him the answer to all Riku-related problems.  

            Six more days stretched out like that and Sora realized in alarm that the month of babysitting was halfway over with and he wasn't one step closer to figuring out anything about Riku.  The older boy had become more then a puzzle waiting to be solved, more then a wicked smirk and a rude comment flung in Sora's face every now and again... More then a closed door Sora couldn't open.  Sora was almost willing to call it an infatuation, the drive that forced him into wanting to know more about Riku.  He felt he'd do almost anything just to get within five feet of the silver haired boy without receiving any harsh reprimand.  

            Quite possibly the most awkward moments were those when it was _Ryo who brought the issue up._

            "So Sora, whaddya think of Riku?"

            "Um..."

            "Isn't he a cool older brother?"

            "I guess..."

            "Mmhm!  Ya know, I'm willin' to share him..."

            "That's okay, Ryo."

            "Really?  But you seem to like him so much..."

            Whenever the conversation got to that point, it usually wasn't long before Sora would attempt to switch gears, anything to get the question away to him.  He didn't even know the answer himself!  What was it he wanted from Riku?  

            Sora had been running all these thoughts through his mind, curled up on his bed with a notebook opened in his lap when Ryo's voice flitted into the room, causing him to nearly yelp in surprise.  Hadn't she gone off to bed already?  Guess not.

            "Sor-aaaaa... The toilet is running by itself!"

            "What?!"

            "It won't stop running!  It just keep going 'whoooosh!' And then 'fwoooosh!  And then--"

            Sora pulled himself off of the bed and sighed, running a hand through his spiky brown hair.  Did he look like a plumber?  Tossing the notebook on the bed, he obediently followed Ryo up the two flights of stairs to the top floor of the house, where Sora had to keep himself from grinning at Riku's form framing the doorway of the bathroom.  The older boy seemed to have that affect on people...

            "Yay!  Riku!" came Ryo's customary acknowledgement of her older brother's presence.  It really made no sense at all... Riku was always so bitter and cold, why was everyone obsessed with him?!

            "What's wrong with the toilet?"

            Riku shrugged.

            "Why do you think I can fix it?"

            Shrug.  

            "GAH!  Is that _all you can do?!"_

            Riku smirked and responded with something that Sora could've _sworn was a purred "No."  _

            Thankfully, Sora was not _completely _clueless as to how toilets functioned.  He'd helped his dad repair their sink several times, so how much different could a toilet be?  Crawling onto his knees, Sora squirmed into the space between the wall and the toilet, slightly unnerved by how clean everything was.  In his own house, there were dust bunnies in the corner of every room, but apparently the bunnies were just flat out extinct in this household.  

            Meanwhile, Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's squirming on the floor, trying to keep himself from bursting into laughter at the squeaks the younger boy was letting out.  He doubted he'd be able to keep from splitting his sides if Sora got _stuck_ behind the toilet.  Ryo sighed and crossed her arms, a worried expression settling over her small face.

            "Sora, you sure you're okay?"

            Sora's response was muffled and sounded a bit out of breath.  "Of course I'm okay!  If I can just turn the water off to this thing I can fix it no problem!"

            "Uh, are you sure?"

            "YES!"

            Ryo grinned.  "Okay!  I'm gonna go to bed!  See ya tomorrow Sora!  G'nite, Riku!" she exclaimed, giving her brother's leg a tight hug, much to his dismay, before bouncing off to her bedroom down the hall.  

            After several moments of silence, Sora came to the conclusion that Riku had probably disappeared with a roll of his eyes in Sora's general direction and that Sora then had the bathroom all to himself.  Yep, just him and a damn toilet that just _wouldn't stop making noise.  Worst of all was the fact that the knob he needed to twist in order to temporarily stop water flowing to the toilet was jammed and showed absolutely no signs of giving way for him no matter how hard Sora attempted to twist it._

            "Fuck!"  

            Riku, whom Sora didn't realize was still leaning casually against the door frame, raised an eyebrow at Sora's sudden swearing.  It wasn't every day the younger boy let out _that_ kind of profanity.  

            "Nnnngh... Why are you so _tight_?!"

            Green eyes widened in disbelief as Riku silently clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from squeaking in surprise.  Yes, it had been quite obvious that Sora was addressing the knob that he clutched in his hands at that moment, but that statement mixed in with the frustrated groans now coming from behind the toilet was more then enough to plunge Riku's mind into the gutter, showing no signs of pulling itself out any time soon.  It really didn't help that due to Sora's squirming, the younger boy's t-shirt had chosen to slowly creep up his tan form, giving Riku a nice view of the tanned chest beneath that shirt.  Shit.  This could only get worse...

            "Just a little harder... Ahh, why aren't you _working?!"  Well, that just about did it.  Riku had every intention of dragging himself out of the bathroom as fast as possible, anything to put as much distance between himself and Sora as possible.  He couldn't help but be reminded of the power outage that had occurred just after Sora had started the whole babysitting job.  Sora really had no idea how sex-related everything about him was.  That fact in itself was annoying Riku to no ends.  _

            So rather then running from the bathroom as fast as possible, Riku found himself doing the exact opposite, walking several paces into the small room, standing over Sora with his arms crossed.  

            "Having trouble, Sora?"

            Sora's eyes widened as he jolted backwards, causing the back of his head to slam against the wall with a dull crack.  "Auuugh!  RIKU?!  What are you do--"  His own words were cut off by a muffled yelp as Riku straddled his waist, reaching over him towards the knob on the wall.  

            "I'm helping you.  Don't get used to it."  

            Covering Sora's hand with his own, Riku gently forced them both to turn the knob counterclockwise, silencing the running water of the toilet, plunging the bathroom into silence.  Silence, with the exception of Sora's breathing, which was still singing loud and clear in Riku's ears.

            "Riku?"

            "Mm?"

            Sora gulped, trying to control his breathing.  Neither of them had moved at all, both their hands still resting on the cold metal knob attached to the wall, Riku still straddled suggestively over him.  Oddly enough, Sora didn't feel like moving.  Well, alright, so if it weren't for the cold tile floor beneath him as well as the cramped confines that go hand in hand with being wedged between a wall and a toilet, _then Sora wouldn't want to move.  Or maybe...  _

            Struggling to keep a grin of triumph from spreading across his face, Sora shifted under Riku's weight to lie on his back, looking up at the older body.  Definitely a good move on his part... Riku's silver hair cascaded down over his shoulders, cold green eyes looking oddly soothing at that moment, shedding their usual harsh nature.  Riku's mouth pulled back into a small smile as he guided their hands away from the cold metal on the wall, bringing their clasped hands between them.  A single thought suddenly flared into his mind, causing him to suddenly pry himself away from Sora, whose own eyes widened in alarm.

            What was wrong with him?  

            "Worry about plumbing tomorrow, Sora... It's late.  Go to bed."

            "Riku... Wha--"  But Riku was already walking towards the bathroom door.  Sora scowled scrambling up from the floor of the bathroom, earning several more bruises in the process, before flying after Riku out into the hallway.

            "Riku, what the hell's your problem?"  Sora didn't want to wake up Ryo, but at the same time he just flat out refused to let Riku walk away from him like that.  Not again, not after what had just happened!  Riku's hand was already on the doorknob to his bedroom door and Sora could easily assume that once Riku closed that door, he might not see the other boy for days.  And certainly, if Riku wanted to, he could possibly not see the other boy at _all_.  

            "I don't know what you're talking about, Sora."

            "You don't know what I'm talking about?  You don't know what I'm _talking_ about?!  Hello?  Where was _your_ libido back there?!"  Riku just wasn't listening, closing the door in Sora's face, shutting him out _again.  "Riku!"  Sora rammed himself against the door, digging his heels into the carpeted hallway outside the other boy's room, forcing the door to stay partway open, despite Riku's snarl and doubled effort to close the door.  _

            "Dammit, Riku!  Stop shutting me out!"

            "Get out!"

            "NO!"

            "Sora, get OFF my door!"

            "NO!"

            "Fuck you, bastard!"

            "NoooooooOOoOo!"  Honestly, Sora could be such a baby sometimes.  Riku glared daggers at the boy who flew through his doorway as Riku opened the door, Sora suddenly find himself ramming up against thing air before toppling to the ground at Riku's feet.  

            Well that was startling... Sora was still feeling the world spinning underneath him as Riku hauled him up to his feet, holding him in place by gripping his shoulders tightly in his hands.  It would've felt painful, Sora was sure it would have, if he wasn't so dazed to begin with.  Even in the dark, his mind was trying to absorb every detail of Riku's room that he could.  The last time Sora had been in there, he'd been shoved against the wall and threatened to the point where he had developed a chronic fear of all things Riku.  But not this time!  Granted, he was still being rather violently held in place with the silver haired sex god (what _was it that made Sora think of Riku that way??), but at least Sora had had some say as to whether or not he had access to the room in the first place.  Or something like that..._

_Anytime I need to see your face  
I just close my eyes  
And I am taken to a place where your crystal mind and  
Magenta feelings take up shelter in the base of my spine  
Sweet like a chic-a-cherry cola_

From what Sora could see, Riku's room was just like that of any other eighteen year old boy, only much, _much_ cleaner.  It made sense, really, for Riku to keep his room spotless.  He probably ran out of other things to do after keeping himself locked up in there for so long.  

Riku blinked down at Sora, who's eyes eventually wandered back to those of his captor.  Sora gave him a small innocent grin and a chuckle, such typical Sora behavior.  Riku didn't let anyone in his room, not even his parents if he could help it.  Sora was definitely swimming in some seriously shark infested water, but for some reason Riku _didn't feel up to beating the adorable younger boy into a bloody pulp.  Rather, he could make out the fading bruise on Sora's cheek from their encounter several days ago and a flash of guilt seared across Riku's brain.  If only kissing could make it all go away..._

  
_I don't need to try to explain;  
I just hold on tight  
And If it happens again, I might move so slightly  
To the arms and the lips and the face of the human cannonball  
That I need to, I want to_

The moments of silence between them seemed to grow and stretch into hours, neither boy seeming to want to be the one to break that silence.  Riku was waiting for Sora, assuming the cheery boy would have to be the one to speak first, since there was never a time when Sora really _wasn't willing to speak.  Why should now be any different?  At the same time, Sora was waiting for Riku to speak first, since there was never a time when Riku seemed to run out of rude comments to fill the silence.  Why should it be any different then?_

It was Riku who broke the silence, though he didn't sneer or scowl.  His words weren't caked with ice and bitterness, they were merely just a simple question.

"What do you want, Sora?"  
  
_Come Stand a little bit closer  
Breathe in and get a bit higher  
You'll never know what hit you  
When I get to you_

"Umm...  Well, I think I want _you."  There, Sora had done it.  It was the first thing that came to his mind and it was probably the worst possible thing Sora could've picked to say at that moment.  Wincing, Sora didn't know whether to expect harsh words, laughter, or another blow to the face, nor could he figure out which would be the most painful to experience.  But none of them ever came, though Riku's response may not have been what he'd really wanted._

"Well I don't think I need you."

"I'd die to find out... To know for sure."  If there was one thing that dominated over his poor plumbing skills, it was definitely Sora's uncanny ability to tug and pull at a person's heartstrings just as he was finally being able to do with Riku.  

"Maybe."

Oddly enough, even though Sora wanted so much more, he was delighted to hear that one word, entrusting all his hope into it.  And even though Sora could have had so much more, he was perfectly content just curling up next to Riku that night in his bedroom, knowing that for the first time in several weeks, the bed wasn't too large and the room wasn't too cold.  That even though there could be more, there was just enough.

.................................................

            Song credited to Savage Garden (I can't believe I used one of their songs.  Errrrk.  It was playing on the radio when I typed this part, don't blame ME.), named 'I Want You.'  Again, I'm somewhat unnerved by how disturbing Riku is.  He's just got a couple issues, that's all!  ^^;;  Anyway, I'm terribly sorry it took me forever and an age to get this chapter posted.  Life decided to bite me in the butt after all those snow days.  *wince*  But it's all over and done with now!  I've got one important little issue to run by you readers though, so I'd be very appreciative if you'd just give the next paragraph a glance over and get back to me about it!

            I've lately been _considering_ making a Kingdom Hearts fan comic.  It would probably start up late March or so, seeing as I want to wrap up my fics before I dive into a new project.  The thing is, as much fun as writing is, I want to work on my art skills.  However, I still want to keep a foot in the whole KH fandom, so naturally a comic seems like a good solution, ne?  So, the first question I pose:  Is the comic thing a good idea?  If so, I've got several ideas.  I could either make the comic off of a finished fic (One for the Band and Wish I Was Your Lover will be finished by late March) or I could go to a new plot I've got.  Any views there?  I hope so...  Leave your opinions in reviews, or just drop me an email!  I'll love you to pieces either way!  XD  Thanks for reading, everyone!

~Ori


	5. Out the Window

Thanks flies out to Xytrusian (chiikume) and Prof. Mapleoak for beta-reading!  ^____^  I love you guys.  *gives early valentines*   Disclaimer... Ah, same as always.  =__=

...................................................

**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter Five**

'Out the Window'

            Sora's eyelids peeled lazily apart the next morning, sunlight dabbling through the window, nearly blinding him.  With a muffled groan, he squeezed his eyes shut yet again to keep out the offending light, curling closer to the warmth being radiated from next to him.  Sora loved his dog to pieces... Every day he could wake up, knowing that the trusty animal would be right there next to him from the very begi--  Wait a minute.  Bowser had died four years ago.  Sora's eyes shot open again, not to find an innocent dog sprawled across the bed next to him, but a rather innocent Riku.

            Yes.  _Innocent_.

            The older boy was still sound asleep arms lazily wrapped around Sora's slender waist, tendrils of silver hair gently falling over his pale face, the perfect picture of serenity.  So peaceful and calm...

            Sora smiled and relaxed again, resting his head of chocolate spikes on Riku's pleasantly warm shoulder.  It was hard to believe that this Riku was the same one who had not only threatened Sora's life the very first time they met, but who had also shown absolutely no remorse after punching the younger boy swiftly and painfully in the jaw.  Sora was sure at that moment, without a doubt, that he was slowly but surely getting closer to defrosting the Ice Prince, and that thought alone was enough to make up for all the things he'd had to endure to get that far in the first place.

            A light groan came from deep in Riku's throat as the boy rolled over slightly, wrapping his arms more securely around Sora's waist, burying his face in the soft brown spikes of Sora's hair.  Unable to tell whether Riku was awake or still fast asleep, Sora stifled the small giggle which threatened to spill out of his mouth at any second, Riku's warm breath tickling the side of his face, and caressing his lightly tanned skin.  It was so perfect, so _nice_... Just to wake up like that.  Sora could lay like that forever, until the sky fell down and the world simply stopped functioning altogether...  And even then, he'd still be grinning.

            "Mm..."  
            "Riku?" Sora asked questioned softly, peering at the older body.  "Riku, you awake?"

            "Nn... Make the light go away, Sora."  There was no way Sora could refuse such a childish request coming from Riku, so with a grin he happily moved to comply to the older boy's wish, propping himself up on his arms to close the curtain of the window behind Riku's bed, submerging the room into an oddly comforting darkness.  

            Riku relished that darkness, using it as a veil to conceal his face from Sora, rolling over away from the younger boy.  Sora didn't seem to mind, instead just curling up against Riku's back, happy either way, just to be near him.  But Riku's own mind felt like it was tearing itself apart and the older boy had not the slightest plans of falling back asleep.  What was he doing?!  Had he just spent the night with Sora, letting the little brat actually curl up next to him in his own bed?  Riku was definitely losing his edge.

            Rolling over to face Sora, who was curled up against Riku's side, mumbling at the slight disturbance and nuzzling closer to Riku in his blissful sleep.  Sora looked so... _cute_ that it almost made Riku regret was he was about to do.  

            The next thing Sora knew, he was flying off the bed and skittering across the carpeted floor before finally rolling to a rather painful halt, his skin stinging from rug-burn.  Narrowing his eyes, he jerked his head up to face Riku, who was sitting up in the bed, his head resting at an angle on his shoulder as he sat, looking moodily the closed window.

            "What the hell was that for?!" Sora asked indignantly, rubbing his head before crossing his arms and pouting.  What was even more frustrating was the fact that Riku wasn't even _looking_ at him, so the trademark pout went totally wasted on its target.

            "You were asleep, so I woke you up.  It's time for you to leave."

            Sora bit down on his bottom lip for a few moments, trying to keep from saying something he'd probably regret later on.  No matter how much Riku's words hurt, Sora knew there was something beneath them... There just _had_ to be.

            "Riku, why do you do this to yourself?"  It had been several minutes since anyone had spoken and Sora's words hung thickly in the air, awaiting an answer.  Riku didn't seem willing to give it, if anything merely focusing more on the curtains of the window.  "Riku, why do you _do_ this to yourself?!"  Sora wasn't just going to let the topic drop, not again.  Not after he thought he may actually have made some difference to Riku.

            "Because I want to.  Because I hate it here.  I want to go home and I never want to come back to this hellhole.  Do you think I wanted to move here?"

            It was the truth, at least.  Riku wasn't feeding Sora lies, like he'd intended to.  God, everything about the younger boy was tearing down the walls Riku had worked so hard to build up during the months he'd been on Destiny Islands.  No way in _hell_ was he going to let them fall completely.  Not when he **wanted** to hate the situation.  If Riku wanted something, Riku got it, but going home was one thing he'd never gotten.  Going home had been the one thing he'd wanted most... up until recently.

            "...You don't have to be alone like this, Riku."

            At first Sora was worried that Riku may just stop responding all together, or worse, snap at the younger boy to just get out of his room, just to get away from him.  Riku's voice finally drifted across the room, cold and harsh as they had been the first time Sora had even spoken with Riku.  "What do you know?"  Simple question.  What _did_ Sora know?  He frowned slightly, trying to carefully think through his answer before speaking it.

            "I know..."   What did Sora know..?  He knew he hated what Riku was doing to himself.  It was no different from any other kind of self-inflicted pain, though this wasn't visible or physical.  This wasn't able to be treated and bandaged up, left only to leave a scar as a memory.  No one but Riku would be able to stop it because no one can live another's emotions, graciously filling their quota for happiness.  Sora could have said all that, and perhaps he should have, but assaulting Riku with that view... Maybe it was just too much and just too philosophical.  Probably too much for Sora to even say before the older boy just simply kicked him out of his room, closing the door on him forever.

"I know you're making yourself miserable.  And... I know you're not happy here..."  What did Sora know?!  He had a point, he had something to say, why couldn't he just say it?  More importantly, why did he have to say it to Riku?  Riku was nothing but cold and heartless to everyone and everything, so why would Sora waste emotion on him in the first place?  Sora was asked for answers and all he could do was come up with questions.  Questions neither he nor Riku knew the answer to.  Maybe Sora didn't really know anything after all.  At least, nothing much.  But there was one thing Sora did know, though he didn't know _why_...

"But I can try and make you happy.  You make me happy."  

Riku closed his eyes as he felt Sora's reassuring arms wrap around him in a warm hug, a hug that he wanted to give in to so much.  But everything that had driven him to that point in the first place was yelling at him to stop, kicking at pulling at Riku, demanding him to be miserable, refusing his happiness.  It never used to hurt this much... Damn Sora for destroying everything Riku had worked so hard to ensure.

"Sora... get out."  

Whether it was because he was afraid of being hurt if he stayed, or whether it was because Riku just asked it of him, Sora nodded , reluctantly peeling his arms away from Riku's warmth, and left.  

But he left the door open.  Riku didn't even notice.

            Ryo was perched on the kitchen counter by the time Sora made it downstairs, a large glass of pulp-free orange juice cupped in both of her small hands.  She gave Sora a wide grin, setting the glass down on the counter with the overly-cautious nature only a child could have.  Sora smiled in return, walking over towards the little girl.  Yes, other _older_ people just blundered right into things, throwing any caution whatsoever to the wind, regardless of the effect it might have on them later.  _Older_ people like Riku.  Stupid, stupid Riku.  

            "Hey, Ryo!  What's on today's agenda?"  Sora leaned against the counter next to her as Ryo swung her legs back and forth, obviously in deep thought, mouth puckered into a frown of concentration.

            "Ooooh!  A picnic!  Can we have a picnic??  Can we, can we, can we?  Puh-leeeease?"  

            "Sure!  Picnic it is, then.  We could go to the park... or the beach...  Any ideas?"

            Ryo's grin broadened, as she giggled.  "I wanna have a picnic on the roof!"

            "The... roof?"

~~~~~~~

            If there's one thing a person should know before ever even attempting to have a picnic on the roof, it would have to be what the roof is _of_.  After nearly half an hour of arguing over the fact that the roof was too high up and that they would just be _asking_ for someone to fall and break their neck, Ryo finally growled and dragged Sora up to her room to show him the 'roof.'

            Surprisingly enough, the roof Ryo had been babbling about was probably no higher then four feet from the lavender carpet of her bedroom floor, not to mention the fact that the surrounding area was safely buried in assortments of stuffed animals.  Sora was too busy gaping at the girl's room to really be paying attention to her babble about the playhouse situated off in the corner of her room, his eyes traveling across lavender walls, moving over posters with bunnies and butterflies... God, no wonder Ryo was always so cheery.  

            "So can we have a picnic on the roof?  Please, Sora, pleeease?"  Sora blinked and shook his head, dragging his eyes away from the oversized pink bunny perched on top of Ryo's neatly made bed, taking up most of the space on the small mattress.  Ryo, pale blue jumper and platinum colored hair pulled back into pigtails, looked like just another stuffed animal perfectly at place in her room.  It was so radically different from the rest of the house... 

            "Ryo, why don't you spend more time up here?"

            "Huh?"

            "Your room... You like it, right?"

            Ryo giggled, pulling herself up onto the flattened roof of the playhouse with ease.  "Of course I do!  It's my room!"

            "So why are you never in here?"

            The girl cocked her head to the side, regarding Sora with a curious gaze.  "I _do_ spend time up here though!  Hehe, jeeze, silly, you think I go to bed at eight every night because I actually go to sleep?  Noooo!"  Ryo burst into another series of giggles, clutching her sides, teetering back and forth on the small roof.  Sora couldn't help but smile.  He had thought it was a little odd of a seven year old to willingly go to sleep so early every night.

            "So what do you do then?"

            Ryo swung her pale, skinny legs back and forth over the side of the small house, seeming to consider the question a moment before finally answering.  "I do lotsa stuff.  Mostly I pretend."

            "Huh?"  Sora could've sworn that Ryo emitted a perplexed snort, as though Sora were the dumbest creature on the face of the island.  It took nearly all his willpower to keep himself from bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter right then and there.  Perhaps Ryo and Riku really were brother and sister after all...

            "_Pre-tend_.  I pretend, Sora!  You older kids don't do it... Well, that's what Riku says."  Sora stuck his hands into his pockets, waiting for Ryo to continue, which she happily did.  "But everybody does it some time!  Like... Chibi Ryuichi over there," Ryo pointed towards the large stuffed bunny on her bed, "He's always getting kinda lost and confused.  Aros is always really bright and happy, and he really likes Uki, but Uki's always really confused and doesn't like him back."  Ryo looked up at Sora, who blinked back, quite obviously confused as hell.  Letting out another perplexed sigh from her small lungs, Ryo launched in her plot, making it up as she went along as all seven year olds do and just as all children rightfully should be able to do.

            "See, Aros is Chibi Ryuichi's grandson."  Ryo held up a stuffed puppy, presumably Aros.

            "Uki," the small girl then grabbed hold of a toy cat, holding it up in her other hand as she continued to speak, "is kinda mean, but not really.  See, Uki's just confused, really, and doesn't know how to act.  It's not Uki's fault that he can't show Aros how much he really loves him, because Uki just doesn't remember how.  Uki used to have a loooot of lovers, but then he had to go away because they all got sick with infested amebas and his parents didn't want him to get amebafied too.  So he had to go away from all them and he was really sad...  Aros likes him though, even though Uki can sometimes be really mean."

            During the explanation, Sora had somehow come to be sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the playhouse, one hand idly running across its strong, plastic surface.  The scary thing was, every word spilling from Ryo's mouth was making perfect sense.  Wait a minute--

            "Ryo, I thought you said Aros was a guy?"

            "He is!"

            "But... You keep calling Uki a 'he.'"

            "He is!  Duuuh."  Ryo rolled her eyes to emphasize the obvious facts Sora seemed to just keep stating.

            "...Oh."

            "Does it matter if they're both boys?  It wouldn't matter if they were both girls, either, would it?  That's just the way it is... They're happy together, so there's not reason for anything to keep them from being happy, is there?"  Ryo clutched both her stuffed animals to her stomach, her small arms wrapped possessively around them before she continued speaking.  "Even if it's not perfect, it doesn't have to be to make them happy.  Even if it's just good, not great... Isn't that enough anyway?"

Sora stared up at the small girl, utter amazement radiating through his crystal blue eyes.  There was no way such a tiny girl could already have such knowledge of the world... no _way_.  But there was no denying the fact that Ryo's words reflected nothing but her true and honest opinions, no lies, no jokes.  Everything about that pretend world and its inhabitants was serious to Ryo, everything about it was real.  Her own production, where she could happily be the director and lead the story to the happy ending that it always deserved... She took it as serious as though her life depended on it, each actor and player of her story sat about her room, anxiously awaiting their next order, always willing to please, always willing to tell the story.  And they would tell the story just how Ryo intended for it to be told, for any other way was undoubtedly the _wrong_ way.

            "Ryo..."

            "What?"

            Sora broke into a wide grin, pulling his hand slowly away from the plastic of the playhouse, returning his gaze to the small girl sitting above him.  The small, _brilliant_ little kid who quite possibly knew more about the workings of the world then half its population combined, who was, at that moment, looking down at him with a puzzled expression.  Sora let out a delighted laugh, jumping up from the floor and pulling Ryo into a tight embrace, grinning like an idiot.

            "You're right!  My god, you're right, you're right!  Haha, I love you!"

            "Wha??  Uhh... I love you too, Sora... But not in that way!  Hehe!"  Laughter, contagious as it is, soon filled the entire room, from purple-painted wall to purple-painted wall, and everything was just momentarily perfect.  If it had been possible, there was no doubt that the stuffed animals adorning the room would have been smiling, too.  But then again, it was Ryo's room, and as far as she was concerned, the crowd was cheering and clapping for Sora's happiness, whatever the reason behind it may have been.

            So for the first time in months, Ryo found that she wasn't pretending alone and she spent that afternoon happily perched on the roof of her playhouse, carefully explaining the delicate, soap-opera like situation at hand to Sora, who would nod and smile, listening to every word she said.  The two had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the foot of the playhouse, surrounded by Ryo's favorite stuffed animals, and although both Sora and Ryo tried to get in contact with the older boy multiple times throughout the day, Riku was nowhere to be found.  If he was in his room, he wasn't responding to his name, or he just merely wasn't responding to _them_.  No matter what the reason was, Sora was nonetheless determined to find some way to talk to Riku at some point.  

            At the end of the day, somewhere around nine or so, Sora guessed, Ryo finally decided to call it quits and crawled into her bed, the small girl dwarfed by the sheer size of the stuffed bunny next to her.  Clinging tightly to Chibi Ryuichi's pink bulk, Ryo peered up at Sora through half lidded, sleepy eyes.

            "Hey, Sora?  Can I ask you something?"

            Sora perched at the foot of Ryo's bed and smiled.  "Sure, ask away."

            "You like Riku, don't you?"  It wasn't demanding.  It wasn't scornful.  Just a simple, innocent question.  But was it really that obvious?  Sora laughed lightly and couldn't keep a small blush from creeping up on his face, causing the boy to be thankful for the darkness of the room.

            "Umm... Well... yeah.  I think so."

            Even though Sora couldn't see so in the dim light, he was sure that a small smile had spread across Ryo's face as she spoke.  "That's good."  After a few minutes of silence, Sora smiled as well and moved to stand up from the mattress and leave Ryo's room.  No sooner had he just started to shift his weight forward off the bed did he feel a small hand wrap around his arm, Ryo's voice speaking up, barely audible and quite obviously the voice of a tired child.

            "Sora?"

            "Hm?"

            "Can you sing me a song?"

            "Ah?  ...Um... I can't really... sing that well..."

            "That's okay if you don't sing well.  Can you just sing me a song anyway?  Please?"  There was no way Sora could refuse the little girl... Especially not after all the help she'd given him that day without even being aware of it.  

            "Okay... What song do you want me to sing?"

            "I dunno.  One I haven't heard."  Sora felt Ryo release her weak hold on his arm and heard her bury herself back under the comforter of her bed, the silence of the room following soon after, obviously waiting for Sora to starting singing something.  

          "I hear your questions, I see your face.  Your life before you is full of grace... What can I tell you to make you know?  Your angel's eyes will watch you grow.  Come, listen close and I'll try... I'll try to let you know, it's all I know.  There is no magic, there are no secrets, we all begin this race at the start.  Oh, but I have come this far with a truth of the heart..."

            Outside of Ryo's room, down the hallway and through a partially open door sat Riku, smiling sadly to himself.  Of course, it had to be to himself.  There was no one and nothing else in his room with him, just as it always was.  He was always alone, except... Last night he hadn't been alone.  Thinking of Sora caused the sadness to drain from Riku's smile, and perhaps he would've chuckled had he not suddenly picked up on the soft voice coming from down the hallway, leaking out of Ryo's room.  Riku tilted his head to the side, listening intently to the softly spoken words before figuring out that they weren't so much _spoken_ words as they were sung.  

            Sora was singing to Ryo?  

            "Deep down inside... I think we're all the same.  Try not to judge someone and never shame.  I do believe that people are good, just one hope and respect to be understood.  Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it's strange, but the truth of the heart is people can change.  There is no magic, there are no secrets, we all begin this race at the start... Ohh, and I have come this far with a truth of the heart..."

            Perhaps it was the fact that Riku was suddenly aware of everything he'd done to Sora since they'd first met...  All the rude comments, all the pain... Everything Riku had done and everything Sora _hadn't_ done to fight back.  The least he could have expected would have been Sora's disgust, his hatred.  But then why did the boy seem to enjoy being near Riku, even though Riku was constantly pushing away?  What's more... why was Riku _afraid_ of it?  

            Because everything Riku expected of himself was crumbling around his feet.

            Because those stupid defenses he'd worked so long to put up were starting to disintegrate slowly into nothing.

            Because...

            "Yes, there is danger, there are shadows... And there is fear inside the dark.  It has powered countries and born religion... But fear can never ruin a heart."

~~~~~~~

            It was after Sora left Ryo's room, the younger girl fast asleep, that he hoped to be able to speak with Riku.  He simply refused to walk all the way back downstairs to the basement to go to sleep... Not that he was afraid of the dark or anything.  No, as far as Sora was concerned, he just wanted to be near Riku.  He didn't know why, but he missed the silver-haired bully more then he ever thought he could.  Or perhaps Sora did know why.  Now the only problem would be to explain the 'why' to Riku.

            But no sooner had Sora made his way halfway down the hall did he hear a faint noise... It sounded so much like ... _whimpering_??  He'd just left Ryo's room a few seconds ago, how could she have woken up and started crying?  Scratch that.  The noise didn't sound like it was coming from Ryo's end of the small hallway.  No, it was coming from Riku's partially open bedroom door, a thin strip of moonlight painted across the plush carpet of the hallway.  Sora quietly moved towards the doorway and poked his head through the doorway cautiously.

            "...Riku?"

            Sure enough, the silver haired boy could be found sitting smack dab in the center of his bed, surrounded by silver moonlight which filtered through his open window along with the sweet ,salty breeze of the island's air.  The room in itself didn't seemed much different from the way Sora had left it that morning, if only more calm and peaceful somehow.  It was as though Riku's bedroom hadn't gotten a breath of fresh air since the boy had moved in and locked the entire thing down, Riku included.  

            If Riku had heard Sora before, he made no indication of it, even as Sora padded quietly into the room and towards the bed.  "Riku... Are you okay?"  It was when Sora knelt on the edge of the bed that Riku was pulled into full awareness, snapping his head around to face Sora completely.  Though Sora was fairly sure that it had been Riku who was crying, no one would have been able to tell just by looking at the stony-faced, icy-eyed boy, who was at that moment casting a severe death glare upon Sora.

            "What the hell do you want?"  Both boys noticed Riku's voice break when he spoke, though neither chose to acknowledge it.  Swallowing hard, Riku tried again, his voice instantly doubling in both its sharpness and its power.  "Get out, Sora."  He was not only trying to protect himself from Sora (for all the harm the innocent younger boy could really do), but he was also outraged that the brunette had found him _crying._  Crying was just not something Riku did, no matter how bad things got.  

            "Riku..."  Sora leaned closer to the silver haired boy, trying to get a glimpse of his face.  The older boy attempted to shove him roughly away, nearly causing Sora to topple completely off the bed, but not quite.

            "Sora, just get lost, o--"  Riku's cold protests were suddenly cut off as Sora closed the gap between them, sealing their lips together softly for just a brief moment before silently and reluctantly pulling back.  At least Riku had stopped bitching... well, for the moment.  If Sora needed to say something, he had to say it now, or he might not get another chance.  But every word he wanted to say just wouldn't surface, wouldn't allow itself to fit into a sentence properly.  It felt as though every emotion either boy was feeling was just leaking out of them, swarming around the room and screaming into the silence.  It wasn't _just_ silence.  It was just that neither Sora nor Riku could hear the outraged screams and wails of everything that was just pouring out of them, begging for a way out of that hellhole, out of Riku's room.  The window hung wide open, but nothing chose to leave it, nothing chose to enter.  Everything was standing still and going outrageously fast at the same time, all because Sora couldn't find the words to say what he needed to.  All because Riku didn't have the words to say what he felt he had to.

            Nothing was working out... but what was it that had made Sora so driven to speak to Riku, to see him again?

Riku looked away from Sora, focusing his gaze intently on the windowsill.  "Why did you come here, Sora?"  Ryo's words from earlier that day instantly flickered into Sora's mind.  _That_ was why he had come here.  Those words.  __

_"That's just the way it is... They're happy together, so there's not reason for anything to keep them from being happy, is there?"_

"Because... Because I wanted to be with you... You make..."  Sora had to swallow before continuing, his throat seeming to tie itself in knots, trying to do anything in its power to keep him from talking.  Finally, Sora's voice came out smooth and clear, just as it always did.  "Because you... you make me happy, Riku.  Because I love you."  There it was, plain and simple, black and white, and Sora could only pray that Riku would understand.

"Why?" was all Riku asked, not a trace of emotion in his calmly unnerving voice, still looking at the window.

"...I don't know why."

Riku fell silent and didn't respond.  The white noise that filled the room was rapidly becoming louder and louder until the silence was almost unbearable, until every unspoken word reverberated off the walls, flying back and forth around the two boys who sat unmoving on the surface of Riku's bed.  

_" Even__ if it's not perfect, it doesn't have to be to make them happy.  Even if it's just good, not great..." _

"Isn't that enough?" Sora asked quietly, more to himself then to Riku.  Sora really didn't **know** why he liked Riku, especially because after everything he did, Sora should hate him.  Pretty much all _normal_ people in this world, and all the other worlds out there would hate the silver haired boy with a passion.  But he chose instead to allow himself to be caught in Riku's web of confusion and loneliness. He had gotten so wound up in it all that he would undoubtedly be perfectly willing to serve Riku his heart on a silver platter, if the need arose. But _hate_ just wouldn't kick in.  And Sora didn't know why, but he didn't care.  Why should Riku?  Unsure if Riku heard him or not, Sora raised his head to face the older boy, repeating himself, his voice more demanding and stronger than before.  "Isn't that enough?"

The room stilled, noise hanging limp and lifeless in the air, waiting for Riku's cue as to what they would do next, where they would go, what they would scream.  The window still hung wide open, but Riku was the only thing blocking it.  The rooms itself was just sick and tired of having to bottle the screaming that no one could hear, more then anything wanting release.  Sora waited patiently in the silence for a moment before smiling sadly and speaking again.

"You know, when I first met you, you _terrified _me, Riku.  I was so scared you'd kill me in my sleep or something because you just seemed so bitter towards everything.  But at the same time... I dunno.  It was like, I was perfectly _content _being pinned up against a wall and threatened mercilessly if you were the one doing it."  Sora laughed lightly and continued.  "And every time I've seen you since I first got here, it's like... Even though you're such a damn _bastard_, I'm still happy to see you.  Because there's times when you're not a bastard.  And when you really do care about things.

"I don't understand why you think you don't deserve to be happy.  And I don't understand why you're forcing yourself to be miserable like this.  But whatever it is, I could _try_ to understand.  And even if I couldn't... that'd still be okay, right?"  Sora peered up at Riku after he'd finished.  "...Right?"

Even before Riku had opened his mouth to respond, the air around them breathed a sigh of relief as every bit of energy that had been bouncing off the walls just drained away, floating numbly out the window into the island's night sky.  

With a small smile, Riku pulled Sora into a firm hug, whispering hoarsely against the younger boy's spiky brown hair.  "Right.  You're right."

Perhaps if either boy had really been paying attention to the doorway, they would have noticed a small shadow retreating back into the hallway in silence, quietly moving back towards the shadow's own bedroom, dragging a larger object behind.  Ryo smiled and brought Chibi Ryuichi into a hug of her own as she crawled back up onto her bed.  Inside _Ryo's_ room, cheers were erupting from all of its occupants, stuffed rabbits and who-knows-what-else all alike, the noise unable to keep Ryo from drifting off into a content sleep, finally having completed everything she'd set out to do so many days ago.  Who would've thought they were capable of just working it out on their own like that?

            And even as Riku and Sora drifted off to sleep, no more words having been spoken between the two, the breeze drifting in through Riku's open window said everything for them, everything that would ever need to be said.

            _"Everything is wonderful now."_

...................................................................

            Whoo!  Another chapter done!  There'll should be at least one more chapter posted before the final Valentine's Day conclusion chapter for this fic.  ^^  Hope you're all excited, because I am!  Comic-wise, I'm glad people are excited about it.  I've decided to use WIWYL's plot, but all the unanswered questions you may have now will be answered in the comic version.  Not to mention the fact that I'll probably add in some scenes that I wanted, but just didn't have time to write before the V-Day deadline.  So yes, expect this fic and more when it goes comic-style in April.  (I said March earlier, I know, but color guard wraps up in April, not March as I thought.  Sorry!)  More on that later, though.  In the meantime, a review would be very much appreciated.  Hope you enjoyed the chapter!  Stay tuned for the events following Riku's emotional meltdown.  Perhaps it's time for a bit more fluff and a bit more sunshine?  I think so.

            Oh yes.  Chibi Ryuichi?  Stuffed bunny?  Gravitation.  ^^  Check it oooout, Sakuma-san.  *claps*

            Last thing, did ANYONE notice the blatant KH symbolism in Sora's song he sang to Ryo (another Melissa Etheridge one, called 'Truth of the Heart')??  I sure did.  That's why I picked it.

~Ori


	6. Dumb Luck

Disclaimer:  Kingdom Hearts isn't mine, though in my dreams when I drink wine, ...on yummy Riku I'm sure to dine.  ...I'm sick, gimme a break, people.

........................................

**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter Six**

'Dumb Luck'

            Riku drummed his fingers against the marble countertop of the kitchen, the cool surface beneath his fingertips somehow lacking the soothing feel it had possessed a few days ago.  With a small smile, Riku thought back to those days, when he only bothered to venture from the second story of the house at the most ungodly time of the morning when no one in their right mind would be awake and walking around.  It wasn't as if Sora and Ryo hadn't tried to drag him out of his room during those days.  Oh no, Riku gave the boy heaps of credit for attempting to get him out into daylight, but he just couldn't be moved and eventually it had seemed as though they'd given up.

            But apparently, Riku was wrong.

            Riku knew that Sora was probably still fast asleep in his bed upstairs, much like Ryo was probably still asleep as well.  The silver haired boy tilted his head to the side, contemplative, as silver threads of hair sifted silently over his shoulders.  He still had no idea what it was that had drawn him towards Sora those past two nights, that had let the younger boy take up such a huge part of his life.  Not that it mattered, though.  

            It had taken Riku weeks to realize it and to admit it to himself, but it looked as though he'd found _that_ person.  That _one_ person he'd spent all seventeen years of his life searching for, giving everything for, and eventually, giving up on.  

            Which each and every bed Riku had hopped around from back on the mainland, there was always the hope that maybe, just maybe, this one would be different.  Maybe _this_ was the one that would look at Riku the morning after and give him a small smile, leaning into his ear and whispering words Riku longed to hear more then anything the world could have to offer him.  Maybe _this_ was the one who would ask him not to leave... Maybe.  And that word had hung with him all those years he'd been searching, even before it had turned into such a drastic man-hunt, Riku frantically searching for this one person he knew he was intended to have.  With each night he didn't spend in his own bed safe at home, that need he'd developed only grew stronger and stronger.  No one could tell Riku that this wasn't the way to find that person, that the people who slept around like that weren't to be trusted with Riku's heart.  But Riku _did_ trust them.  And even though he hadn't realized it, he'd been leaving fragments of his heart with each person he'd ever stayed with.

            How had things spiraled so completely out of control?  Even when Riku thought about it at that moment, he couldn't begin to understand.  One event blurred into the next and it all just looked like one enormous roller coaster ride that just wouldn't stop.  Why was it that he couldn't just wait for someone to come to him, or just to _date_ like normal people would have at his age?

            Because he couldn't wait.  Because he couldn't stop from thinking that his one and only was out there at that moment, _not_ with Riku.

            Riku even remembered the day his parents had come to him and tried to talk him through things.  They had tried so hard to pull their son out of the hole he'd dug himself into, but nothing they did was enough to reach him.  There was no rope long enough to pull Riku out of his thoughts and assure him that it wasn't the end of the world if he wasn't in love all the time.  Riku wouldn't listen and he just had to have someone, he had to be with _someone_, no matter who it was. It was like oxygen for Riku and there was nothing that could be done to tear it away from him without killing the boy.

            Well... that's what he'd thought.

            Riku was suddenly pulled out of his own mind by an abrupt tug on his shirt, Ryo's small fist gripping the fabric tightly.  A large grin played across her pale face, her green eyes dancing merrily as she studied her older brother.  It was hard to believe, but there was definitely something noticeably _different_ about Riku, and the young girl was able to tell just by the way Riku flashed her a small smile.  The old Riku would never have smiled at her annoying antics like that.  The new Riku?  Well, she'd have to wait and see.

            "Hehe!  So what's the deal with you and So-ra?"  Riku had knelt down next to his little sister and Ryo promptly took advantage of the moment, hopping around him and leaping onto his back, wrapping her slender arms around his shoulder securely so as not to fall off.  Riku rolled his eyes and stood up, carrying the gleeful Ryo with him as he moved towards the refrigerator, pulling out a carton of milk and setting it on the counter.

            "Mm?  What deal?"

            "You _knoooow_ what I'm talking about!"

            "I'm quite sure I don't."

            "Ri-kuuuuu!  You big meanie!"

            Said 'meanie' chuckled as he poured milk into two glasses on the counter, listening to his younger sister's babble with only half an ear.  Well, of course, there was no way he could completely block out her voice, since her mouth was right next to his head and all, her vice-like grip on his shoulders holding her in place.

            "So you like 'im, right?  I knew you did.  You're happy now, right?  'Cause Sora's happy.  Hehe, it's kinda obvious 'n all."

            "It is?  Well gosh darn, I thought I was better at acting then _that_."  Riku turned towards the hallway of the first floor to find Sora there, his brown spikes even more messy then usual due to just having rolled out of bed.  In a way, it was sort of undeniably... **cute**. 

            Rubbing his eyes and shuffling into the kitchen, Sora let out a cat-like yawn, pearly white teeth gleaming in his small mouth.  Those same teeth were soon pulled into a wide grin as Sora looked at Riku and Ryo.

            "So, guess what I've thought we can do today?"

~~~~~~~

            "No.  Way."

            "Oh, come on, Riku!  You can do this!"

            "Absolutely not."  It wasn't just that Riku had never been roller-blading before in his life, even though his parents had long ago bought him roller blades.  No, that wasn't the main problem.  Riku was perfectly willing to learn _how_ and was a fairly quick learner in anything he did, always able to master the skill like a pro within several hours, no matter what it was.  The problem, however, was that Riku didn't think he would be able to concentrate on his feet long enough to allow himself to learn _anything_.

            Riku blamed Sora.

            The brunette had chosen to wear 'ratty old junky clothes he didn't care about,' but Riku was definitely dismayed to find that those old junky clothes were more old and junky then he ever could have possibly imagined.  The worn old pair of blue jeans covering the younger boy's slender legs probably consisted of more holes then of actual fabric, giving Riku a nice view of the skin they tried to cover up, gaping holes speckling the blue material all the way up to Sora's thighs.  A tight gray t-shirt clung to Sora's chest, but didn't seem to quite be able to reach the waistline of the pants, allowing Riku to see even _more_ skin if he so wanted to.  Which he did.  Which was a problem.

            "Please, Riku?  Pretty, pretty, pretty please?"  Ryo was even begging her older brother now, a small pair of white roller skates already tied onto her feet.  Naturally, Ryo had learned how to roller skate back on the mainland with a bunch of her old friends, and of course would have absolutely no problem doing so on Destiny Islands.  Sora had his own pair of roller blades, and was obviously very well practiced with them, taking only seconds to strap the blades on and start gliding across the street, swerving into a smooth figure-eight before returning to Riku's side, trying to do everything in his power to guide the older boy along with him.

            "Here, I'll even hold your hand!"  Sora reached out, and before Riku could object, clamped the older boy's hands in his own, still facing Riku and grinning like an idiot as he slowly began skating backwards, pulling Riku towards him.

            "You've got to be kidding me.  We look ridiculous."  

            "Aww!  No you don't!  You look adorable!"  Ryo skated along beside her older brother with ease, her arms tucked behind her back.  Riku shot her a glare, causing the younger girl to giggle and quickly rephrase her words.  "I mean, adorable in the most _mas-cu-line _way possible."  Ryo pronounced each syllable of the new word carefully, as though she were testing the water of pool before allowing herself to totally submerge into the water.  Riku just rolled his eyes.  Turning back to Sora, Riku didn't notice, Ryo's wicked grin as she fished around in the pockets of her blue jumper for... something.  

            "Hey, don't you trust me Riku?"  Sora leaned forward, still gracefully sliding backwards over the asphalt, twining his fingers around Riku's, a broad smirk stretching across his mouth.  It was amazing how Sora, the very same Sora who could hardly go a day without walking into a wall or something equally as stationary, could possibly be so coordinated on wheels.  Amazing... and just a little disturbing.

           The three slowly made their way down the winding street, which seemed almost entirely deserted of cars.  Of course, that didn't mean they didn't pass _people_.  Everyone seemed to have chosen that summer day to go outside and swarms of the island's inhabitants could be seen just lazing around in their front yards, enjoying the cool green grass against the warmth of the summer sun.  Couples sat beneath the shade of the palm trees as Sora, Riku, and Ryo neared the beach and pulled off of the street up onto the smooth sidewalk which lead further down to the dock, crystal clear waters spread out as far as the eye could see.

            "Okay, Riku, ready?"  Sora grinned wickedly, releasing one of Riku's hands and tightening his hold on the other.

            "What?  Ready for what?"  

            "Let's goooooo!"  Ryo shot off down the sidewalk, surprisingly fast for someone with such tiny legs.  Sora laughed and instantly started off behind her, dragging a rather terrified Riku along after him.  

            "_Sora_!"

            "Don't worry, Riku, I've got it totally under control!"

            "But **I** don't!"

            "Trust me!"

            All Riku's legs were aware of was the feel of wheels beneath him racing to keep up with the breakneck speed Sora had set for them, careening across the concrete sidewalk as though they had a mind all their own.  The two boys whizzed past Ryo, who let out a shout of defiance at having fallen behind.  In one fluent motion, Sora was facing backwards, waving towards Ryo and _still_ managing to keep the speedy pace.  This was insane!  Riku's eyes widened as Sora wrapped his arms around the older boy's waist, bringing their legs close together, driving them both down the sidewalk at lightning speed, wind whipping past their faces.  It _was_ insane.  But so, _so_ addictive.

            "You scared, Riku?"  Sora turned to face the other boy, a playful smile dancing across his face.

            "Hell no.  But... Aren't we gonna run out of sidewalk soon?"  Riku blinked at the ground ahead of them.

            "Huh?"  Turning back to face forward, Sora's eyes widened.  The sidewalk was rapidly drawing towards the dock which stretched off into the water and there didn't appear to be a turn off in sight.  Nope, Sora definitely hadn't been counting on _that._  "Umm.... Hey, Riku, remember how I said to trust me?"

            "Crap."

            "Yeah.  That's about it!"  With a sudden jolt, the boys' roller blades skidded onto the wooden planks of the dock as they continued to surge forward.  Sora let out a laugh which seemed completely out of place in the current situation, looking over at Riku and both of them continued to fly towards the inevitable.  Not a trace of fear or doubt was in Sora's eyes, as though he'd long ago decided to accept the fact that at some point in time, he was _going _to go zooming off a dock into the water and there was just nothing he could do about it.  Well, might as well live it up for all it was worth.  Riku rolled his eyes before allowing himself to grin back, just as they ran out of dock to skate on.  

            The racket their wheels had caused from running over gaps between planks was suddenly gone, Sora and Riku suspended in the air past the dock, still moving forward at an alarming rate... all before dear old gravity kicked in and dragged them down with glee, an enormous splash erupting from the water as the two boys made contact with its surface.  

            Ryo, who had been trailing along behind Sora and her brother as fast as she possibly could, skidded to a halt and blinked at the dock, where they'd been only moments ago.  In a flash, her mind put two and two together and she burst into laughter, nearly tipping over onto the sidewalk, clutching her sides and gasping for air between fits of giggles.  

            "This... must be the most interesting day of my life."  Riku sighed, sopping wet in the shallow waters several feet out from the dock, pulling dripping silver bangs out of his eyes and looking over at Sora.  The brunette was having trouble keeping a straight face, Riku's scowl only making it even more difficult.  In an attempt to patch up any sour feelings, Sora gave his best 'I-swear-that-was-an-accident' smile and waved meekly over at what he hoped he would be able to then call his boyfriend.  Propelling himself forward, Sora laughed heartily as he enveloped Riku in a sudden hug, the drenched boy flinging ocean water everywhere as he latched onto Riku happily.  

            "Augh!  Sora!"

            "Wha-at?  Don't you like hugs?"

            "You're soaking wet!"

            "So are you!"  Sora stuck his tongue out playfully, not releasing his grip on Riku's waist.  If anyone on the rest of the beach noticed the whole incident, they must've chosen to simply brush it off with the standard 'kids-being-kids' excuse and nothing more.  Ryo, however, had pulled off her skates and socks, running barefoot across the sand towards Sora and Riku.  Letting out a delighted squeal as the seawater lapped against her bare feet, Ryo tossed her roller skates and her socks further back up onto the shore, digging around in the pocket of her jumper yet again as she waded out into the water, eventually pulling out a small pink camera.  

            Riku looked up, seeing his sister's approach and laughed, dunking Sora's head underwater as soon as the younger boy turned around to spot the approaching girl.  That was just the beginning of a long, and though neither would ever admit it, rather _painful_, wrestling match, which left both boys thoroughly soaked to the bone and more then just a little bruised.  Ryo, meanwhile, had taken the opportunity to snap a few pictures from where she stood, unable to wade in much deeper without getting completely drenched herself.

            "Ry--" Sploosh.  Sora resurfaced from the water, sputtering, laughing, and trying to speak all in the same breath.  "Ryo!  What're you doing?!"  Standing up from the shallow waters, Sora laughed as Riku made an attempt to trip the younger boy up, instead sending him tumbling down on top of Riku, causing both of them to tip back into the water.

            Ryo giggled, holding up her camera with pride.  "I'm takin' pictures!  Hehe, you guys are so cuuuute!"

            "You'll eat that comment, Ryo."

            "Yummy!  You'll hafta catch me first, Riku!  You too, Sora, you lazy bum!"  With that, Ryo was off like a shot, scooping up her pile of belongings sitting in the sand and running off along the beach, Sora and Riku scrambling to get out of the water.  The extra weight the water caused by clinging to their clothing didn't seem to help much, but nonetheless, both boys were racing along the beach, not so much focusing on catching up with the girl ahead of them, but more along the lines of seeing who could catch her _first_.  As it always seemed to be, it was a competition between the two, unspoken, unplanned, but somehow with rules as firm as a concrete sidewalk.  

            Riku reached his sister first, sweeping her off the ground with ease and spinning in a circle, causing Ryo to scream and giggle in delight.  Just like old times.  With Ryo perched safely atop his shoulders, Riku turned to Sora and shot the younger boy a wide grin, triggering wordless communication.

            _Do you know you brought me back?_

_            I'm glad I did._

"Come on!  We gotta go get my pictures developed!"  Ryo waved her camera around energetically.  "My camera's full!  Let's go-ooo!" 

~~~~~~~

            Days trickled by much like that, though at the same time each one seemed radically different from the previous one.  Both Sora and Ryo noticed that Riku didn't seem to lock himself up in his room so much, and Sora had long ago given up sleeping downstairs in the lonely basement, though he was still too hesitant to drag all his belongings up to Riku's room.  

            Seven days...

            Ten days...

            Thirteen days...

            Where did it all go?

            What was going to happen once it was all over?

            Rain fell from the sky, not in the violent torrents which made up summer storms, simply a healthy shower, tears of neither pain nor bliss free-falling from heaven.  And Sora sat in the basement, his old duffel bag packed up, with the exception of the next morning's clothing, and he thought.  It was something Sora didn't like to do, focus entirely on thinking.  In his mind, it was easier to solve problems as they were dished out, but he hadn't realized he'd even gotten himself _into_ a problem until he really started thinking about it.

            Sure, everything was perfect.  Everything was perfect when it was Sora, Riku, and Ryo.  Even the days spent around Kairi and Selphie didn't change anything.  But what would happen when their parents were brought into things?  Would everything fall apart?  Would Riku revert back to his old self and act like nothing had happened?  Sora winced, pulling his knees up to his chest as this thought flitted across his brain.  Could he handle it if that happened?  So many questions...  Sora didn't have the answers.  He never did.

            He should have been asleep.

            He _shouldn't _have pulled Riku into this mess.

            "Hey, Sora."  Well speak of the devil.

            Sora looked up and in a flash, it was as though everything was solved.  Riku was Riku and there was nothing Sora nor anyone else could do about it.  It was that Riku that pulled Sora towards him, that silver haired _bastard_ who could run cold and hot and act like it was second nature to him, which it undoubtedly was.  Sora shot the silver haired boy his trademark grin, flopping backwards on his bed.

            "Riku!"  A distant roll of thunder sounded in the distance, but it didn't faze Sora.  He'd mostly outgrown that fear ever since--  "Reminds you of the last storm, huh?" Sora asked, smiling softly as he gazed out the basement window, threads of silvery water catching the dim light the basement let off.  Other then Sora's bedside lamp, the entire basement was dark, just as it should have been at eleven at night.  

            "Yeah..." Riku walked further into the bedroom, arms crossed in front of him, his gaze drawn away from Sora and towards the window as well.  He couldn't help but wonder what he'd do differently if he could replay that night.  If he could replay the entire month. "It was... fun."  Riku couldn't even help but wonder why he couldn't have words to describe it.  

            "I'm glad."  Sora propped himself up on his elbows as Riku sat next to him on the bed, though neither spoke for a long moment.  Sora couldn't decide whether he wanted to continue thinking or not, or even if he wanted to share his thoughts with Riku.  Was Riku wondering the same things?  "Hey, Riku?"

            "Mm?"

            "Are you happy?"  Possibly not exactly what Sora had meant to ask, but it was just as important, if not more so, then anything else he could have said at that moment.

            "Yeah... I'm happy." Riku gave Sora a small smile and gently wrapped his arm around the younger boy's slender waist, Sora's automatic reaction causing him to rest his spiky brown head against Riku's shoulder as the silver haired boy took a breath, speaking again. "I'm sorry, though."

            "For what?"

            "For _what_?  Sora, get real!  I'm sorry for... _everything_.  I..."  How to word this...?  Riku was _never_ one for apologies, so the entire thing was just more then a little foreign to him.  But for Sora, sure, it was worth it.  And Riku knew he deserved it more then anything at that moment.  Or at least some sort of explanation... the best Riku had to offer, though it really wasn't much.  "I spent so long just trying to avoid you when we could've just enjoyed this moment sooner.  And...  It's like you said.  That first time I saw you, even though I was mad as hell and pretty screwed up... I dunno.  Something just clicked, right?  And it was like, that was what made me so upset.  It's weird."

            "Makes sense to me."

            "A lot of things seem to."  It was almost as though Sora had switched gears completely since he'd first met the blue eyed boy so many days ago, though Riku knew that wasn't the case.  If anyone had changed, it must have been Riku.  No longer was he driven to make himself miserable, and no longer did he hold that anti-social air he'd always wrapped about himself so tightly when he'd first arrived at the islands.  Everything had changed...

            "Hehe, you think I'm smarter then you?"

            "Hah, no way in hell."  Riku smirked and rolled his eyes.  Some things might never change.  

            "Aw, Riku!  That was mean!"  Sora pulled his lips into the adorable pout that Riku had come to love, nearly causing the older boy to melt right on the spot.  But that surely wouldn't be any good for Riku's constantly crumbling self-image.  What was left of it, anyway.

            "Yeah, yeah.  Well it's not exactly like you'd catch _me_ babysitting some strange little kid and her crazy brother for an entire month."

            "So that makes me stupid?"

            "Loveably so, yes."

            "Ri-ku!  I thought you were done being evil!"  Sora removed his head from Riku's shoulder, turning to scowl at the older boy, but unable to keep a small trace of a smile from his face.  

            "No way."  Riku tilted his head to the side, leaning in and nipping Sora's earlobe gently, drawing a startled yelp from the brunette.  "Can't just stop being evil like _that_, you know."

            "I... do?"  Sora's eyes widened as Riku nudged him further back onto the bed, Sora's fingers becoming easily entwined in the sheets, causing the younger boy to lose any support he'd previously had in his arms, now sprawled back across the bed.

            "You should," Riku murmured, nuzzling against Sora's neck before planting a series of light kisses along his throat,  moving down towards the boy's tanned chest, skilled fingers slipping past his t-shirt with ease.

            Sliding the cumbersome clothing over Sora's head, Riku instantly returned to what he had been doing, continuing to kiss as much of Sora as he was able to as that moment, trailing his tongue over one of the boy's nipples.  Riku smirked with satisfaction as Sora gulped, trying to fight back a moan from escaping his mouth from the sudden onslaught brought about by Riku.  

            Naturally, the phone on the bedside table had to choose that moment to ring.

            "_Fuck_!  You've gotta be _kidding _me!"  The glare Riku gave the phone was enough to blow the damn thing to pieces right there on the spot, and he was rather peeved that it didn't happen.  Nope, the phone just went right on ringing.

            "Ri-ku... Just let it riiiing..." Sora whined.  How could some stupid call be more important then what they'd been doing just a few seconds ago?  But Riku looked hesitantly back at the phone... back at Sora... back at the phone.  What if it was an important call?  The whole mood was already ruined anyway.  So, much to Sora's objections, Riku reached over the younger boy and picked up the phone, jabbing the 'on' button with his thumb before sighing and holding the phone up to his ear.

            "Hello?"

            "Riku??  Hi, sweetie!  It's Mom!"  Oh.  Goody.  Hi there, Mom, guess what I was just up to.  No, really.  Guess.  "Your dad and I just wanted to call and say we made it back to the airport safe and sound.  How's everything been going?"

            "Great, Mom."  Riku tried to ignore Sora's stifled laughter in the background, nearly kicking the spiky haired boy, trying to get him to shut up already.

           "Really?  So how is that Sora boy?  Did Ryo have a good time?  What on earth are you doing up at this hour?  Now, I wouldn't have called, but I simply figured I'd try and give Sora a heads up instead of just--"  As always, Riku's mother seemed to babble on and on, most of it just mindless drivel that would somehow find its way into conversations months down the road, the woman having forgotten she'd ever even brought the topic up in the first place.

            "Sora's great, Mom."  This caused Sora to beam and give Riku two thumbs up.  Just how great was Sora?  If there were only words...

            "Oh that's wonderful!  I don't suppose you two became friends, did you?"  Riku had been afraid she would bring that up.  He had never been able to _lie_ to his parents very well... Honestly, if he could lie, everything that had happened back up on the mainland probably wouldn't have become an issue at all.  But when asked a direct question like that, there was no way Riku could just defy all those long years of subjection and being drilled on right from wrong.  Sleeping around with half the city, Riku could never figure out what was wrong with that.  But lying was a different story.  So instead, Riku did the very best that Riku could do.

            "Um... something like that?"

            "..."  Obviously, Riku's very best was not something his mother wanted to hear.  At all.  "Riku... Honey, please don't tell me..."  Riku winced, realizing what a huge mistake he'd probably made.  Shit, if he could just take those words back...  "Oh, Riku...  Why?"  _Why_?  What kind of a question was--

            "What?!  What's wrong with that?!"  As far as Riku could see, there was absolutely no reason his parents shouldn't be happy for him.  It wasn't as though either of the boys had gone drastically far in the _physical_ aspect of the relationship!...  Although, had Riku's mother not called at that moment, Riku wasn't sure how much longer that fact would've held true.  All the same, there was no reason for his mother to be so upset.

            "You know what's wrong with that, Riku.  I just... don't think you're capable of making these kind of--"

            "_Mom_, I'm almost eighteen!"  Sora was now getting quite worried, and shot the silver haired teen a confused look, mouthing a question which got him no response from Riku, who was still busy trying to juggle the angry voice on the other end of the phone.

            "I know, but... Well, _you_ know what your past judgment has been like!"

            "Riku...?" Sora asked, when he figured that silence wasn't going to get him anywhere.  Riku looked up, frantically shaking his head, trying to keep Sora quiet, but it was too late.  The phone had already picked up Sora's little one word question and that was apparently all that was needed.

            "Is that Sora?"  Riku scowled at Sora, trying to stall from answering.  "Riku, put Sora on the phone.  Give Sora the phone, Riku."  Knowing his mother quite well, the very last thing Riku wanted to do was hand the phone over to Sora.  She would probably pound the poor boy into the dirt for 'hurting her poor baby,' of which Sora had no such part of.  It had been Riku who had been flirting so outrageously with him in the first place...

            "I swear if you hurt him I'll never forgive you."

            "Riku, just _do_ it."  Riku obeyed and handed Sora the phone, trying to decide whether or not it would be a good idea to just die right there on the spot.  Seemed like a pretty good idea to him.

            "...Hello?"

            "Sora... I didn't know you were gay."  

            "Oh.  Umm... Neither did I?"  Sora figured that Riku's parents already knew their son was gay.  Honestly, if _Ryo_ knew...  But then why would they be so upset?  

            "How can you say such things?!  Don't you know that Riku..."  The voice on the other end of the phone took a deep breath, sounding much more calm and relaxed when Riku's mother next spoke.  "Now then, Sora.  Your parents are on their way home as well, as you know.  They're probably already there, as a matter of fact."  No... They wouldn't... Sora's mouth hung partway open, his mind trying to force any kind of objection out and into the receiver, but none would come.  All Sora could do was little mindlessly to phone resting against his ear.  "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would like for you to have vacated our house by the time my husband and I arrive home.  We'll see to it that you get your pay, but... Try and understand.  This is for Riku's sake."

            How was it for Riku's sake?  Did they _want_ him to be that anti-social jackass he'd been ever since they'd arrived at Destiny Islands?  Was it so hard to just give Sora a chance?

            "I'm afraid I don't understand..."  How could anyone possibly have understood?

            "Riku doesn't need this, Sora.  He doesn't know what he wants."  

            "But he's almost an adult!  He can make these--"

            "_Almost_ an adult.  But he _isn't_."

            "...I'm sorry."

            "That's alright, Sora.  I'm sorry it had to come to this.  Thank you for taking care of Ryo.  Goodnight."

            It was amazing how fast everything could fall out of place...

            "Riku..."

            ...Just like that.

~~~~~~~

_I played the fool today_

_I just dream of vanishing into the crowd_

_Longing for home again_

_But home_

_Is the feeling I buried in you_

            Sora opened the door to his house without a word, ignoring the rainwater dripping down the back of his shirt.  All it ever did was rain.  Not even thunder and lightning to keep him company, just bleak, miserable rain.  

            Cerulean blue eyes looked around the first floor of his house before Sora numbly called out, "I'm home."  

            "Sora!  Hey!  How'd everything go?"  Bryna's voice drifted up from the basement and Sora could hear her quick footsteps already moving to the foot of the stairs.  But he really didn't feel up to talking.  

            Reaching the top of the basement stairs, Bryna looked around for her son.  

            "Ah, Sora?  ...Where are you?"

            A faint voice responded from somewhere upstairs.  "I'm up here, Mom.  I'm just tired... Gonna go to bed."

_I'm alright, I'm alright_

_It only hurts when I breathe_

            Sora hoped it would be enough of an excuse just to get a few hours alone.  Nothing had ever been more painful then having to see the hurt and confused expression on Riku's face as Sora had driven away that morning.  Even after explaining the quick phone conversation to Riku, who had snarled and spat, determined to at least attempt to stand up against his parents... Even after trying to explain, Riku still couldn't understand why Sora had so willingly left.

            The truth of the matter was that Sora didn't know either.  The belief that Riku's parents knew what was best for their son was still too strong.  It was second nature of Sora to think that adults knew everything, so why would this be any different?

_And I can't ask for things _

_To be still again_

_No, I can't ask if I_

_Could walk through the world _

_In your eyes_

_Longing for home again_

_But home_

_Is the feeling I buried in you_

But it just felt wrong... 

            Even as Sora crawled into bed, trying to force himself to make up for the loss of the previous night's sleep, he could hardly even close his eyes.  An entire night of sleep, lost to his own silent tears long after Riku had left his room, both boys not knowing what to do.  What _could_ they do?  

_I'm alright, I'm alright_

_It only hurts when I breathe_

_I'm alright, I'm alright_

_It only hurts when I breathe_

Sora must have spent half an hour just lying there on his bed, eyes closed, trying to will himself to fall asleep.  But it was just.  All.  Wrong.  And nothing would convince him otherwise.  The bed was too small and too large at the same time, the room was too dark, too stuffy.  Where was the open window and island breeze he'd spent the past month striving to earn?

            Where was Riku?  Riku, Riku, Riku... Would Riku still be thinking of Sora?  Or had he already pushed the younger boy out of his mind like yesterday's news, moving on in his life?  

_My window through which_

_Nothing hides_

_And everything sings_

_I'm counting the signs_

_And cursing the miles between_

            "Sora?"  There was a soft knock at the door, and Sora chose not to respond, hoping his mother would just give up and go away, leaving her son alone.  Sora _wanted_ to be alone... Right? 

_But home_

_Is the feeling I buried in you_

_That I buried in you_

            But Bryna didn't go away.

            Gently easing the door to Sora's bedroom open, she poked her head inside and looked at her son lying on his bed.  She didn't need to know what had happened.  No sooner had Bryna moved forward and sat next to Sora on the small bed did the brunette sit up and look at his mother through eyes fogged with tears.  No, Bryna didn't need to know.  She didn't need to ask.  

            "Mom..."  Sora gave up trying to fight back tears, reverting back to a childhood he thought he'd left behind.  Back to the times when he always needed his mother to hold him when he fell down, to kiss the bruises and scrapes and make them all go away.  But there are some things that even Bryna wouldn't be able to fix.  Sora just wasn't willing to accept that.

            Everything had to have a happy ending... It was what he believed was right.

            So what had gone wrong?

_I'm alright, I'm alright_

_It only hurts when I breathe_

........................................................

            Wow.  That was a real emotional flip.  *blinks at readers*  Um... Please don't hurt me?  This _isn't_ the last chapter!  Though, yes, it is terribly long.  I had to cram a lot of things in here in order to set everything up for the finale, which will be posted Saturday evening.  

            The song, for those of you who can't guess, is another Melissa Etheridge one, 'Breathe.'  I didn't plane on actually puttying a song in here, but I just got her new album yesterday, listened to the song, and it fit so well...  Plus, the rest of the chapter is so long, what's a little page-and-a-half songfic?  Exactly!  

            As always, a deep and heartfelt thank you goes to my beta readers, even though I was an idiot and chiikume was unable to beta because I sent this chapter out so late.  You two polish my writing to make it at least somewhat decent.  ^___^  Not to mention they also put up with all the times I send emails that supposedly contain the attached chapter but... well, I forget to attach things sometimes.  T___T  So yes.  Lady Kaiba, thanks for beta reading!  Chiikume... please forgive me.  ;____;  I just had to post this chapter today.

            So before everyone decides to hunt me down and skewer me for doing such terrible things in this chapter... Just wait for the finale!  It'll be worth it!  I promise!

~Ori


	7. When You Got It, You Got It

            Here it is, the final edition of WIWYL, the big burrito, the grand finale!  Enjoy everyone!  (Longer A/N at the bottom.  Just read that one.)

Disclaimer:  Same as always.  Kingdom Hearts and its characters aren't mine, just the plot of the fic here is.  ^_____^

…………………………………………………..

**Wish I Was Your Lover - Chapter Seven**

'When You Got it, You Got it'

            Late August had Destiny Islands in its usual chaotic state for that time of year.  Teenagers and younger children alike all burst in to frenzy, realizing with horror that their summer vacation had literally flown away from them, leaving them with only a few meager weeks until school crept up on them once again.  The beaches were usually swarming with people trying to catch some last minute sun before being slammed once again into a nine month hell which there would be no escaping.  

            And normally, Sora could have been found woven into that immense crowd on the beach.  But not then.

            No, for on one particular August day, Sora was found racing through town on his faded blue bike, needless to say, **going **somewhere.  Tidus and Wakka, who had just returned from their blitzball camp and had met up with Selphie and Kairi, tried not to be too upset as Sora sped past them without even so much as a 'hello.'  Selphie and Kairi merely exchanged looks and crossed their fingers, hoping for Sora to get a birthday wish that wasn't even his to make.  

            Wind whipping through short coppery spikes of hair, Sora tore down an all-too-familiar hill, turning the corner onto Riku's street with expertise.  It wasn't as though Sora hadn't been by Riku's house in the weeks that had followed the end of his babysitting career there.  But Sora hadn't seen _Riku_.  The older boy wouldn't even respond to Sora's earnest attempts at trying to visit in the middle of the night, when the brunette would anxiously wait beneath Riku's window, throwing pebbles up against the glass in hopes of drawing Riku out of his room.  The fact that Sora hadn't seen any sign of the silver haired boy in three weeks didn't discourage him though.  If anything, Sora had only become more determined to fix things and return everything to the way it _should_ have been.

            So with a little help from Ryo, who had become the adopted half-sibling of Kairi and Selphie, Sora had arranged everything that was to happen that day.  Seven-year-old and seventeen-year-old had sat on the sands of Destiny Island for well over three hours trying to plan it all out, and now it was all about to down.  Sora just hoped it would work...

            "Happy birthday, Riku!"

            While Sora was peddling like mad towards Riku's house, Riku was going mad himself.  He hadn't been out of his room in weeks, other then prowling around upstairs when no one was there, or creeping down into the kitchen when everyone was asleep.  To say the very least, he wasn't exactly functioning properly.  Although he spent all those long hours in his room, he was hardly able to get any sleep because he was _thinking_.  Perhaps Riku figured that if he just had time to sit and _think_ about everything, he'd come up with a solution without any problems.

            Not so, apparently.

            Never had Riku spent such a long time trying to sort out a situation as he had then.  He didn't know what to do about Sora, whom he wanted to see more then anything.  He didn't know what to do about his parents, who had basically flattened the idea of seeing Sora all together.  He didn't know what he wanted, he didn't know what he needed, and most importantly, he hadn't learned anything from the days and days he spent thinking.  

            And so Riku had been physically dragged down the stairs by his younger sister in open daylight, shoved before his parents, and expected to express the usual cheer that one would think would accompany an eighteenth birthday.  He spent the morning opening presents, eating French toast, and smiling at his family as though nothing were wrong, for it was quite obvious to Riku that his parents were determined to act as though nothing were wrong with their son.  Everything with Riku was fine, he was _not_ temporarily out of order, he was _not_ unhappy, and most certainly, he was _not_ missing some drastically important piece from his life.

            So when the doorbell rang that morning, did Riku run up to answer it like the love-starved boy he undoubtedly was, hoping and praying that behind the wood paneling stood the boy he'd been waiting for forever?  No.  He was thinking again, even though he was forced not to retreat upstairs into his room as he so desperately wanted to do, instead draped over the leather couch in the downstairs living room, staring up at the ceiling with disinterest.

When the doorbell rang a _second_ time, still he didn't move towards the door.  

A third ring... no movement.

"Ri-kuuu!"  Ryo scowled at her old brother from the floor beside the couch, coloring book and crayons splayed out across the carpet in front of her.  "Answer the door!  It's pro'lly someone who came to say happy birthday to ya!"

"Yeah.  Right."

"Riku!  Just answer it!"

"Fine."

            With a roll of his eyes, Riku pulled himself up from the couch, skillfully sidestepping around the array of crayons on the floor beneath him.  A few weeks ago he would've happily ground the things down to dust, but thankfully Riku hadn't had the heart to continue being mean to Ryo, who seemed to have been the only one supporting him since Sora left.  

            Riku scowled at the door as yet another ring of the doorbell sounded throughout the house, reaching towards the handle, twisting and pulling the mahogany door open with a frown still lightly resting on his mouth.

            A frown which instantly dissipated as soon as he laid eyes on the person _behind_ the door.

            The same old grin, the same old brilliant blue eyes, flashing with triumph, the same old _Sora_ stood face to face with Riku, one hand in the pocket of his shorts, the other artfully tucked behind his back, which he brought in front of him, revealing a neat bouquet of roses which he held out towards Riku, who was still gaping at him in the doorway.

            "Happy birthday, Riku."

            "Sora..."  Riku bit his bottom lip, carefully taking the bouquet into his hands.  It only took a few mere seconds before Riku let out a delighted laugh, wrapping his arms around the brunette, pulling him into a hug Riku had wanted for so long.  Sora was really _there_.  He hadn't forgotten about Riku.

            Click, flash.

            "Huh?  What was--"  Riku looked over his shoulder, slightly dazed by the after effects of a camera; in this case, his vision suddenly being bombarded with streaks of brilliant purple, only to find Ryo standing in the hallway, familiar pink camera clutched in her hands as she beamed up at her older brother and Sora.

            "Wha-at?  I couldn't pass up a good photo op!"

            "Ryo!  Wha--  You _planned_ this?"  How else would she have known...  Ohhh... It all came together suddenly.  Ryo spending time with Selphie and Kairi... Riku's parents naturally didn't know that the two older girls were close friends with Sora.  In any other situation, Riku may have been slightly disgruntled by the fact that it took him so long to notice.  But at that moment, it would take one hell of an Apocalypse to destroy his mood.

            "Riku, who was that at the-- oh."  Well, maybe not an Apocalypse.  Riku turned to look at the stairwell, only to find his mother staring straight back at him, a rather stunned and wary expression crossing her otherwise beautiful features.  Much like her children, Maerna was easily compared with a fragile porcelain doll, pale skin and shockingly light hair giving her an almost ethereal sheen.  Yes, she was quite elfin, but Sora knew how skittish Riku's mother was about the whole situation regarding her son, so he was instantly face-to-face with a fight or flight instinct taking control.  Sora could run away from the entire thing... Or not.   

            It wasn't really a hard decision.  Sora had spent the past weeks going through hell without Riku, so he wasn't exactly willing to give the silver haired boy up without that fight.

            "I thought... we had settled this matter, Riku."

            Riku frowned slightly, tightening his grip on the roses in his hand protectively, locking eyes with his mother.  "No, _you_ settled it.

            Sensing that Riku wasn't about to back down, Maerna switched her target to Sora, her icy and disapproving gaze nearly chilling him to the bone.  "Sora, what is the meaning of this?  I thought we had an understanding here."

            Sora gulped, but didn't shy away from her stare.  The way he figured it, the whole thing was pretty much a now-or-never situation.  "We..."  Sora faltered unsure of exactly what he was going to say.  Riku turned slightly to look at him and seemed to think for only a brief moment before giving the younger boy a small smile and a nod of reassurance, urging him to continue.

            "We did reach an understanding.  But that was a few weeks ago... Riku was seventeen and you said he wasn't old enough to make these kinds of choices because he was too young.  Well, he's not anymore.  Don't you think Riku can choose what he wants to do now?"  Sora looked hopefully up at the woman who still stood poised gracefully on the landing of the stairs, studying him carefully.

            "You don't know the first thing about it, Sora.  You don't know or understand why I'm so concerned about Riku... You don't know what happened..."  Just as Riku opened his mouth angrily, ready to draw that conversation to a halt right there and then, Sora interjected.

            "But I don't care about that!  I don't care about the old Riku or whatever he did back where you guys came from.  I don't care how badly he screwed up, or what else anyone thought or _still_ thinks of him for it.  I only know the Riku that's here right now.  Not that old Riku.  Yeah, I would like to know what happened, but I'm not going to force it out of anyone unless Riku wants me to know.  And if he never wants me to find out, then that's perfectly okay, because that Riku isn't as important as this one."  Sora looked over at Riku once he finished speaking, flashing the older boy a smile that would melt ice.   Nothing could really describe how happy Riku was... Sora didn't care about how badly Riku had messed up his life.  Everything was okay with him...  Everything was perfectly fine.

            Maerna looked at the two boys, certain she was losing her son yet again, allowing him to set himself up for heartache just as he'd done so many times before.  She had the chance to prevent it this time, so why couldn't she?  

            "Riku, is this really how you want it?"  Riku nodded in response.  So there really was nothing Maerna could do... What if he got hurt again?  "Is this what you came here for, Sora?  If so, you've got it now."

            Sora shook his head, instantly feeling sorry for Maerna.  Yes, her actions were misguided, but she was only trying to protect her son.  No one could fault her for that.  "No.  I came because I wanted to celebrate Riku's birthday."  He grinned.  "And I was wondering if maybe Riku and I could go out later today... But only if it's alright with you."

            Maerna looked back at Sora, studying him closely.  It was hard to believe this kid was for real.  Sensing hesitation on her mother's part, Ryo chirped up from the hallway, where she still stood, pink camera dangling loosely in her hand.

            "You can trust Sora, Mom!  He's a cool babysitter!"

            All eyes rested on the small girl standing in the hallway, the small girl who still had all her baby teeth despite the dentists' warning that she would have to start loosing them someday, the very same small girl who had been pushing and shoving at a relationship, directing it to perfection, without even being aware of it.  And all she could do was grin back at them, undoubtedly the most confident person in the room at that moment, placing all her confidence in the fact that everything always worked out in the end.

~~~~~~~

            "Sora, Riku!  Hey!"  Kairi waved at the two approaching boy energetically, sitting on a bench next to Selphie, Tidus and Wakka standing nearby.  The entire group looked up at Sora and Riku, nearly taken aback by the simple happiness that both of them were just radiating.  Selphie giggled and launched herself at both of them.

            "Groooup hug!  Aww!  You guys are so cuuuute!"  

            Riku laughed, allowing the bouncy girl to hug both him and Sora before Sora gasped out a light protest, whimpering something about needing air, and she reluctantly let go.

            "So what've you got planned Sora?"

            The brunette grinned wickedly, placing his hands on his hips and twirling in a small circle jokingly.  "Wouldn't _you_ like to know!"

            "Aww, Sora!  You're so mean!" Selphie chided.

            Tidus and Wakka, who had pretty much had the situation summed up to them by Kairi and Selphie before the other boys had arrived, seemed a little tense at first, but eventually eased up around Riku as the entire group headed off down the street, deeper into the town stretched out across the island.  

            By the time they had all reached the boardwalk, Riku was no longer any sort of outsider to any member of the group and it was as though the silver haired boy had spent his entire life growing up around these people, and they in turn felt they'd known Riku for as long as they could remember.  Everything locked into place, and Kairi didn't once mention her old boyfriend, Keno, who had mysteriously just seemed to disappear from existence recently.  No one asked much about what Riku's life was like back in the main land and no one could possibly have known how glad Riku was about it.

~~~~~~~

              "Come on, you guys!  You **have** to do this, we dared ya to!"

Riku rolled his eyes at Selphie and crossed his arms defiantly, saying, "You've got to be kidding me."

Selphie pouted and tugged on Riku's arm plaintively, while Kairi pleaded with Sora as well.

"Sora, you haven't backed out of a dare _ever_!  Surely you don't wanna ruin your record _now_?"  The auburn hair girl grinned at her friend, realizing she'd finally chosen the magic words that just pushed buttons inside of Sora.  If there was one thing he wouldn't stand for, it was losing.

So Sora stood up from their booth, arms akimbo and that trademark triumphant grin adorning his face, blue eyes dancing.  That particular diner had been Sora's idea, yes, but it wasn't exactly as though he had planned on the dare Selphie had handed them.  Sora just liked watching other people use the karaoke set up front and had never used it himself.  If it was 'now or never,' it might as well be now.

"All right then, we'll show you guys, won't we Riku?"

Riku blanched and looked up at his boyfriend.  "We will?"

"Yep!  Come on, it'll be fun!"  He grabbed Riku's arm and led him away from the booth, followed by the cheers from Tidus and Wakka, who had admitted they would never ever have been willing to follow through with Selphie's wicked dare.

"You think they're really gonna go through with it?" Kairi asked the brown haired girl beside her, who was happily sipping away at her soda, swinging her legs back and forth under the table.  Removing her lips from the straw of her drink, Selphie pulled them back into a sweet smile.

"Of course they are!"

No sooner had she assured Kairi of this fact did a familiar song begin to play from the front of the restaurant, the voices of their two friends 'singing' into the microphone, accompanied by their own laughter at their antics.  The restaurant's customers looked up, recognizing the song from it's popularity on the radio, and smiled at the two boys, who would appear to everyone else as best friends.  Only they themselves, as well as the group sitting back at their table, knew otherwise.

It didn't stay that way for long, as the song kicked into full swing, Sora and Riku knowing each word by heart, hitting the notes right in sync with the CD player, grinning like idiots and just having a good time, not caring about how the restaurant would react, only caring about that one moment.  
            "...Shucks, for me there is no other! You're the only shoe that fits, I can't imagine I'll grow out of it.  Damn, I wish I was your lover!"  Draping their arms around one another's shoulders, Riku and Sora laughed before launching into the next part of the song, exchanging glances as they tweaked the wording ever so slightly, causing a burst of laughter to rise up from their own table at the back of the restaurant.  
            "If I was your **_boy_** believe me, I'd turn on the Rolling Stones; we could groove along and feel much better!  I could do it forever and ever...  Give me an hour to kiss you, walk through heaven's door, I'm sure, we don't need no doctor to feel much better!  Let me in, oh, forever and ever and ever and _ever_!"

 "I sat on the mountainside with peace of mind... I lay by the ocean making love to **_him_** with visions clear, Walked for days with no one near... And I return as chained and bound to you!"  So the song was a little inappropriate at one little moment?  Not _everyone_ in the restaurant was entirely shocked by their choice of music.  Actually, a good portion of the customers grinned and laughed, clapping their hands together for both boys who were so willing to set themselves up to fall down, trusting that something would somehow hold them up no matter what.  
            "Damn, I wish I was your lover!  I'll rock you till the daylight comes, make sure you are smiling and warm.  I am everything, tonight I'll be your mother.  I'll do such things to ease your pain, free your mind and you won't feel ashamed!"

~~~~~~~

            Ryo gently opened the door to Riku's room, carrying a small shoebox tucked under one arm, several stuffed animals dangling from her hand.  

            The room was relatively quiet, though the laughter of children drifted up from the shore of the island down the block, a gentle breeze drifting in through the open window, caressing Ryo's face and softly running through her hair, pulled back into its standard pair of pigtails.  As usual, Riku's bed was neatly made, everything perfectly organized.  But there was no doubt that the room was different.  It was as though it had finally come to terms with its inhabitant, finally adjusted and surrendered to meet Riku's demands at a halfway point.  And yet still, something was missing from it.

            Setting the stuffed animals gently on Riku's bed, Ryo pulled his desk chair out and climbed up on top of it, maintaining her balance with surprising ease as the leaned over his desk towards the bulletin board, setting the shoebox down on the desk's clean surface.  The bulletin board itself was entirely empty except for one small scrap of notebook paper which had been tacked into the cork down in the far corner of the board.

            Ryo smiled to herself as she gently pulled the lid off from the box, admiring its contents before reaching in a pulling out...

            A photo.

            The shoebox was full of them, all from the day when Riku, Sora, and Ryo had all gone down to the beach.  Though pictures themselves could never be able to convey the amount of joy that day had bottled up into just a few short hours, that didn't make them any less precious.  

            Sora holding both of Riku's hands as he had tried to convince the older boy to skate with him.

            Riku allowing himself to be guided by the younger boy, hesitantly skating across the street, hand clasped in Sora's own.

            Both boys flying down the sidewalk, completely out of control, but enjoying every moment of it.

            A picture of Riku dunking Sora underwater, followed by many more of the two engaging in an oceanic wrestling match.

            So many pictures... And Ryo's favorite, which she'd taken at the end of that day after she'd convinced Riku and Sora to go to the ice cream parlor for milkshakes.  The picture showed a rather sleepy looking Sora, cradling a vanilla milkshake in one hand, his other arm draped around Riku, his head resting on his shoulder, that sleepy smile of his stretched across Sora's mouth.  And Riku, smiling softly and leaning against Sora, no less worn out then the younger boy, and certainly no less happy.

            Ryo kneeled carefully on the desk, carefully tacking up each and every picture from the shoebox, creating a collage of Sora and Riku, covering the entire span of the bulletin board, except for that one corner.  Ryo smiled as she read the notebook paper before replacing the lid of the shoebox and lowering herself down off of Riku's desk.  She made her way over to Riku's bed again, taking one last look at her two stuffed animals, a chocolate brown dog and a marmalade colored cat, lounging on the pillow on top of Riku's mattress.  

            "Be good, Aros!  Be nice, Uki!"  She gave each animal a pat on the head, smiling warmly at them as though expecting a response.  "I love you guys and you'll be happy here, now."  With that, Ryo took one last look at the room, which was now perfect in every way, shape, and form, and, satisfied with her work, she tucked the shoebox under her arm again and walked out of Riku's room, leaving the door wide open.

            The cream-colored walls seemed to breathe a sigh of contentment as another wash of cool ocean breeze filled the air, taking up every square inch of the room, running invisible fingertips over everything it could possibly touch.  It ran smoothly over the linen of Riku's sheets, up and across the newly added members of Riku's room, gently rustling their 'fur' as it passed by.

            The breeze drifted soundlessly off the bed, over towards the desk, racing up the wall to inspect the new additions the cork board sported.  And after it was certain that each and every picture had been perfectly place and examined thoroughly, the island air came to the small scrap of notebook paper tacked to the corner of the board, read over it carefully, and smiled the smile of a seven-year-old girl who knows she's done something right and has no more doubts in the world that everything has a happy ending.

            "_Fathers and teachers, I ponder 'What is hell?'  I maintain that it is the suffering of being unable to love._"

                                                                        -- Dostoevski

            And with that smile still intact, the air settled in Riku's room, content in just _being_ there.  Content with just being able to stretch from corner to corner of that space, filling it with everything the warm, inviting breeze could ever have to offer so long as it had an open window to fly through.

……………………………….

            ….*beams*  I must say, I'm quite proud of the ending.  Again, my deepest and most sincere thanks go to my beta readers, Chiiku and Lady Kaiba for helping me throughout most of this fic.  They seriously polished my writing to no ends, and I think it's pretty noticeable.  Seriously, I looked back at Polka-Dots and Ribbons…. That's scary to read.  Well, at least, for me it is.  Anyway!

            I hope  you all enjoyed 'Wish I Was Your Lover.'  As I've mentioned before, the song which is the namesake and inspiration of the fic is by Sophie B. Hawkins and I pretty much used the version which her and Melissa Etheridge sang at a concert for a duet.  ^^;;  

            Let's see… Last-minute credit goes to my best friend's little sister… For use of the name Maerna.  I couldn't think of another name for Riku's mother and she sorta needed one.

            Phew.  Now then.  For those of you who have been asking: Yes, OftB will resume updates next weekend.  I'm looking forward to it, and it looks as though I'll still have my beta-readers behind me.  Yay!  Comic-wise, I've picked an exact date for the comic to begin:  April 23rd.  Not only am I 100% certain that the spring guard season shall be over by then, but it's also a close friend's birthday, so it might as well be the start of something important, too!  

            So to wrap up this fic…

            I'm sad to see it go, but I'm happy with how it turned out.  I look forward to being able to turn the story into pictures for everyone to see, as well as adding in some things along the way.  Possibly the thing I'll miss most is Ryo, who, as you already know, was created for the sole purpose of this fic and will probably not be used again.  ;_______;  Aww maaan, I'm gonna miss her.  But a thank you goes out to all my readers, my two beta-readers (again), and all the reviewers who left their input and gave me the fuel to meet this deadline!  I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day and hope that this has helped to add a little more sweetness to your day on top of the candy.  Listen to Dostoevski's words and you can do no wrong.  Love you all!

~Ori


End file.
